There is a special bond between Matteo Malucelli and the Tour de Langkawi, a race with many memories capable of marking a before and after in his career. A year ago, the cyclist from Forlì flew to Malaysia with a lot of desire to do and the goal of finding a team for 2025, a dream supported by the Team Ukyo, the team of Alberto Volpi and Manuele Boaro who had accompanied him in conquering 3 stages and the points jersey.

Malucelli's story is like a roller coaster of dreams and unfortunately bad luck, he is one of the athletes from the now-old Gazprom story, one of those who had to pay the most disastrous consequences, finding himself with nothing and then having to start over. It was a difficult path that took him to China, Belgium, and then to the Italian-Japanese team, yet the desire to restart, to win, to take his own space without ever giving up never failed. The contract with the xds Astana team was the reward for many sacrifices and now he is finally taking the space he deserves. "For me, it was a great dream, I waited many years to realize it and I must say it's beautiful. I tried to enter this world step by step, there are many beautiful things, certainly a lot of comfort thanks to the staff and sponsors, but it's also easy to get used to and lose sight of the goal. I try to always remember where I came from, the many sacrifices I made and all the lessons that previous teams I raced for gave me. A large part of the team is Italian and certainly this helped me a lot to settle in, I already knew some of the guys because we had raced together in other teams. I took the more experienced riders as a reference point and combined it with the baggage I brought with me."

Returning to Malaysia is a great emotion, especially it feels strange to think back to a year ago when he was winning with the dream of the World Tour and bringing Team Ukyo among the big names. Many things have changed, yet what remains identical is his hunger for victory, which this year has already earned him 2 successes in addition to many placings. "It's strange to be back at the Tour de Langkawi, I have beautiful memories of this country and as soon as I arrived, I relived everything that happened last year. With Team Ukyo, it was a beautiful experience, 12 months ago there was nothing certain and thinking back makes me smile, many things have changed, but I remain the same, I have a lot of desire to win and this doesn't depend on the jersey one wears." The Romagna cyclist continues, who now doesn't want to stop anymore. Asian races are his conquest ground, xds Astana has invested a lot in him, and he has the opportunity to end the season in the best way possible.

With practically flat stages, the Tour de Langkawi is the ideal terrain for sprinters who have rushed here with the goal of winning many victories. It will be a difficult challenge for Malucelli, who will mainly have to deal with Arvid De Klejn, the Dutchman from Team Tudor who wants to make up for an unfortunate season, and Alexander Kristoff who will conclude his career right here. "With the team, the goal is to hunt for points and try to win as many sprint stages as possible. I have many teammates who can support me, but it won't be so simple. Compared to last year, there are new teams and the race is rising in level, many riders arrive here with similar objectives and everyone wants to find their own space. - continues Matteo - I am calm, the team has made a bet on me and I am happy to have repaid them, I am satisfied, but there are still many opportunities to do well starting from the first stage. The route is identical to last year's, on one hand, it's an advantage because I already know the route, but on the other hand, it automatically comes to imagine the evolution of the race and the intuition is not always the right one. We have at least 6 opportunities available and I hope to make the best of them."

Meanwhile, in the Malaysian morning, Matteo Malucelli was welcomed at the press conference like a true superstar. It is impossible to forget his performance in the past season that literally enchanted many Malaysian fans and the media following the race. Everyone became passionate about his story, hearing it directly from him and reading it on our site. Now the Romagna cyclist has returned with new colors as a World Tour athlete, and many fans are ready to accompany him in his dream.