Pierre Rolland to miss the Paris-Nice for Tour of Langkawi
Pierre Rolland of Team Europcar had opted to ride the Tour of Langkawi and do not mind skipping the Paris-Nice for the season ahead.
The cyclist’s major goal of the season remains the Tour de France 2013 and he will prepare for the three-week race at the Malaysian event.
“It’s ten days long and the weather is good, did it two years ago and it went very well,” he told Rolland told Velochrono.fr.
“Last year, I didn’t have a week without a journalist at my house or something to do. This is a calm winter. I can spend time with my family and above all, I can train well”.
The cyclist will use Etoile des Besseges to kick-off the new season and followed by the Tour Mediterraneen and the Tour de Langkawi.
The cyclist’s major spring objective of the season however remains the Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the Tour de Romandie and the Criterium International 2012.
The cyclist is optimistic to support the French team at the 2013 UCI Road World Championships in Florence scheduled after the Tour de France 2013.
“I would have loved to have gone to the Worlds this year but I didn’t manage my post-Tour very well,” the French voiced.
“Next year, I’ll take a long break so I can be better rested and fresher, with the aim of being selected for the French team,” he concluded.
Tour de Langkawi is scheduled from February 21 to March 2, 2013 and will take cyclists across beautiful landscape of the country.
Final race schedule of the Tour of Langkawi 2013 is as below,
Stage 1 – Thursday 21 February 2013 : Kangar – Kulim (163.7 Km)
Stage 2 – Friday 22 February 2013 : Serdang – Kuala Kangsar (116.0 Km)
Stage 3 – Saturday 23 February 2013 : Sungai Siput – Cameron Highlands (145.5 Km)
Stage 4 - Sunday 24 February 2013 : Tapah – Kapar (168.0 Km)
Stage 5 – Monday 25 February 2013 : Proton – Genting (108.0 Km)
Stage 6 – Tuesday 26 February 2013 : Mentakab – Kuantan (212.8 Km)
Stage 7 - Wednesday 27 February 2013 : Kuantan – Dungun (149.8 Km)
Stage 8 – Thursday 28 February 2013 : Kuala Terengganu – Tanah Merah (164.5 Km)
Stage 9 – Friday 1 March 2013 : Pasir Puteh – Kuala Berang (123.6 Km)
Stage 10 – Saturday 2 March 2013 : Tasik Kenyir – Kuala Terengganu (114.8 Km)
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