World's apart, but they sure will meet in Varese

Some editions of Le Tour de Langkawi ago, Fabio Duarte (above) made quiet appearances in Malaysia, as part of the Colombia-Selle Italia team, which evolved into the Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Gioccatoli team under Gianni Savio.
The noise he'd made in Malaysia was dwarfed significantly by that made by Anuar Manan (below), who'd romped to two successive points classification wins in Jelajah Malaysia and then only denied Malaysia's first ever stage victory in Le Tour de Langkawi this year, by Seoul City's Lee Won Jae. Anuar is the star road rider Malaysians made for themselves.
But the duo meet in the Under-23 World Championships road race in Varese on Friday, where the tables have been turned even before the start. Malaysia's troubled national road programme meant that Anuar and his sole teammate Fauzan Ahmad Lutfi had to be 'saved' from missing the Under-23 Worlds by samaritan Datuk Astaman Abdul Aziz, who forked out his own cash to foot the bill for the duo to fly to Varese. And then, as I wrote in NST last week.
Anuar and Fauzan. as history of Malaysia's three previous participations in the Under-23 Worlds would suggest, would be lucky to complete the road race in the main bunch, Fauzan luckier to even finish the individual time trial on Tuesday, within the top 30 espoirs in the world.
Duarte meanwhile, or at least I believe so after looking at the start list, should be disappointed if he doesn't return to Colombia with the gold medal. He is the only one in the entire start list with a real reputation at pro level.
Sure, they are worlds apart, as is Colombia compared to Malaysia. But both countries have riders qualified for the World Championships, the annual pinnacle of the sport for national teams, apart from the Grand Tours and the Classics, which are contested by trade teams. Yet some people in Malaysia didn't want to be repesented.