Sam Bewley joins PBR for Langkawi tour

Bewley (Left) after winning the bronze medal at the UCI Track World Cup in London just a few days ago ©Guy Swarbrick

Feb 22nd, 12. Demonstrating the new partnership between PureBlack Racing and BikeNZ, NZ Olympic Track rider Sam Bewley is joining PureBlack Racing riders for the upcoming Tour of Langkawi.

The ten stage 1,415km tour, with World Tour teams Garmin Barracuda and Astana racing, begins this Friday.

Racing under the NZ National Team label are NZ Road Champion James Williamson, Roman van Uden, Michael Torckler, Joe Cooper and Louis Crosby from PureBlack Racing plus Bewley, fresh from the London Track World Cup.

This is the first outing for the national team since BikeNZ, Pure Black Racing and Avanti joined forces to create an international road racing development programme.

Although most of the tour is relatively flat, the sixth stage is renowned for a cruel 20km climb, a day for Torckler and Cooper to lead the charge.

With Williamson, Van Uden and Bewley strong sprinters, the Kiwi team feels well equipped to make their mark in the tour, with options for both General Classification success and stage wins.

Bewley, a member of the BikeNZ Men's Team Pursuit squad, is using the Tour as preparation for the UCI Track World Championships in Melbourne in April.

"I'm excited to head to Langkawi for the Tour. It's always been a tour that has caught my fancy," said Bewley.

"I am racing the Tour as part of my preparation for the Track World Championships. I discussed the possibility of doing this with national track coach Tim Carswell and he believed it would be good for my preparation. I'll pick my days, some stages I'll race hard and see if I can get a result. Others I'll take a bit easier in order to be in the best nick I can for the upcoming Track World Championships. Either way I I'll do what I can to help the other riders in the team to achieve their goals."

A former RadioShack professional rider, Bewley brings extensive team racing knowledge to the team.

"I'll definitely bring some experience to the team having raced tours of this level and higher the past two season. Hopefully I can help the team as a whole get some results."

This race is the first major race in the Asian block for the BikeNZ Pure Black Racing team. The team is based in South East Asia for the next three months to take part in five major tours.

"Professional cycling is developing quickly in this part of the world" said Greg Cross, PureBlack Racing's Business Director.

"With countries like China, Singapore and Malaysia being increasingly important to New Zealand's economy it's a great opportunity to show case New Zealand.

The Tour of Langkawi is UCI 2HC ranked tour. As well as Garmin Barracuda and Astana, the NZ team are racing alongside Europcar, Australian team Drapac, US team United Healthcare plus teams from Russia, Italy and across Asia.