Julian Arredondo won't be back to defend his title after signing a contract with the Trek team but that doesn't mean that there will be any shortage of potential winners in the Tour de Langkawi which kicks off tomorrow. With a host of strong climbers ready to tackle the queen stage to Genting Highlands, the race seems to be more open than ever before.

With just one former overall winner on the startlist and a host of big names on board the peloton for the 19th edition of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) which runs from February 27 to March 8 the race for the overall title is expected to be one of the most open in recent history.

Neri Sottoli - Yellow Fluo's Yonathan Monsalve of Venezuela, the winner of the 2011 edition, will be the only former winner returning this time around, while a host of top climbers, highlighted by a strong presence of South Americans this time around, could offer some predictions as to where the 19th winner of LTdL will come from.

The race for the coveted yellow jersey is expected to be led by Orica-GreenEDGE's Dutch star Pieter Weening, last year's runner-up who lost out on the overall victory to Colombian Julian David Arredondo by a minute and 15 seconds and will surely be back with an aim to go a step higher this time around.

But neither Weening nor Monsalve can expect to have it easy this time around with the list of top climbers hoping to have a shot at the overall title being one of the longest in the race's history.

Weening is this time backed by Colombian teammate Esteban Chaves, who could himself go for the honours when the race hits the decisive Genting Highlands climb on the fifth stage provided that he is feeling better after only recently returning to competition after last year's terrible crash, while US outfit United Healthcare Pro Cycling have this time returned with two Colombians on board in Carlos Alzate and Isaac Bolivar.

Having had a surprisingly quiet 2013 edition, LTdL's most successful ever team Androni-Venezuela will definitely be looking to bounce back and will surely be lining up Venezuelan Carlos Ochoa and Italians Gianfranco Zilioli and Patrick Facchini for a shot at the general classification this time around.

It won't be all South American either, with Asia's biggest team Astana Pro Team also putting up a strong challenge led by 2012 Asian riders' classification winner Alexsandr Dyachenko, who also finished fourth that year. The Asian challenge will also be led by defending UCI Asia Tour champions Tabriz Petrochemical with veterans Ghader Mizbani and Mehdi Sohrabi showing extraordinary form in the past year.

Team Europcar's Eritrean star Natnael Berhane is another accustomed to winning overall titles and the Tour of Turkey winner comes into the race having won the Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon, beating the likes of Luis Leon Sanchez and Egoitz Garcia to the title, so he is not to be discounted from this title race.

"It is definitely difficult to pick the overall winner this time around. It will be a traffic jam heading up Genting!" exclaimed LTdL chief operating officer Emir Abdul Jalal.

"It won't be one, two or three teams targeting the overall title. It is a host of teams, unlike we've seen before when you can anticipate two or three teams sure to be gunning for the overall win from the start. I think that makes this year's race so much more exciting."

The overall winners of Le Tour de Langkawi:

1996: Damian McDonald (Aus)

1997: Luca Scinto (Ita)

1998: Gabriele Missaglia (Ita)

1999: Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita)

2000: Chris Horner (USA)

2001: Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita)

2002: Hernan Dario Munoz (Col)

2003: Tom Danielson (USA)

2004: Freddy Gonzalez (Col)

2005: Ryan Cox (RSA)

2006: David George (RSA)

2007: Anthony Charteau (Fra)

2008: Ruslan Ivanov (Mol)

2009: Jose Serpa (Col)

2010: Jose Rujano (Ven)

2011: Yonathan Monsalve (Ven)

2012: Jose Serpa (Col)

2013: Julian David Arredondo (COL)