With five previous appearances in the race, Jacques Janse van Rensburg is no stranger to the Tour de Langkawi. In 2017, the former South African road race champion is the experienced head in a young Dimension Data team, aiming for its third straight overall victory. The 29-year-old was sixth on his debut in 2009, sixth again in 2014, and ninth in 2015 when teammate Youcef Reguigui unexpectedly claimed the overall victory. Janse van Rensburg missed the race last year when Reinardt Janse van Rensburg, no relation, won the overall classification for Dimension Data. In 2017, Jacques Janse van Rensburg believes first-year neo-pro Ryan Gibbons will be the key man for Dimension Data but explained to Cyclingnews the team tactics will largely be decided by the outcome on the Cameron Highlands queen stage.ADVERTISEMENT `Ryan is a really good sprinter from South Africa. He is similar to Reinie, who won last year, so we are going to go for stage victories for him,` Janse van Rensburg told Cyclingnews following the official race press conference. `He was assisting the guys really nicely in the Dubai Tour, being part of the last part of the lead-out for Cavendish, and he was really itching because he could actually be one of the great sprinters in the team. `He is still young, a first year professional, and it`s a really great opportunity for him. He wants to see how it goes on the Cameron stage and whether he can fight or not for the GC. It depends on how it goes there. His focus for the moment is just for the stage victories.` Developing youth Gibbons is one of three neo-pros on the Langkawi squad alongside Australian Ben O`Connor and Eritrean Mekseb Debesay, and Janse van Rensburg is also tipping the latter to make an impression on the race this week.
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