By Antonio J. Salmerón
Karpin Galicia is ready to travel to Malaysia for the Tour of Langkawi where 25 teams will race representing five continents. It will be the Professional Continental team's first experience in Asia. Director Alvaro Pino pointed to Ramon Troncoso as one of the top competitors to watch.
Troncoso himself acknowledges that his plan is to start the season in good form. "They asked me to start strong, and as far as I can tell, I feel very well. In the last training camp I noticed [I felt] strong – more than last year at this time, but it must be kept in mind that I already have almost 2,000 kilometres in my legs. The Tour of Langkawi is an attractive and important race for my team. It is our first trip outside of Europe, and may have a greater media impact."
He sees another advantage to a strong early season in that the team will have more riders who can give good performances. "Ezequiel Mosquera will be our leader in the Challenge de Mallorca, so that we will have more options in Malaysia," said Troncoso, who admitted he knows little about the Tour of Langkawi.
Troncoso raced in Portugal for three season before transferring to Karpin Galicia in 2007. "Cycling in Portugal is not as easy as people think," he said of his professional debut." Karpin Galicia's team will see some changes for 2008.
"We have been all be training in these last months. We are missing very important riders for us such as Marcos Serrano and Eladio Jimenez, who earned three wins for the team last year, but we can be stronger than in 2007," he predicted.
