KUALA LUMPUR: Langkawi and Sarawak are making a return to the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) 2024 circuit, with the latter to host two legs of the race scheduled from Sept 29 to Oct 6.
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh (pix) said the 28th edition of Asia’s most prestigious cycling event would see Sarawak hosting two stages, in Miri and Bintulu, and Kulai in Johor joining the circuit for the first time.
She said 11 states (except Kelantan, Terengganu and Sabah) would serve as the starting and finishing points for the race, which will be organised by the National Sports Council (NSC) for the second consecutive year.
“This year the organisers have promised more challenging back-to-back mountain climbs in Cameron Highlands and Genting Highlands for stages 3 and 4.
“This year is also a historic occasion for the residents of Kulai, Miri and Bintulu as the LTdL race will be held there for the first time,” she told reporters after launching LTdL 2024 at the NSC here today.
It is learnt that three teams from Malaysia will be participating, namely the National Road Race Cycling Team, Terengganu Polygon Cycling Team (TSG) and Malaysia Professional Cycling (MPC).
Teams from Kazakhstan, the United States, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, China, Indonesia and Japan are also expected to join the fray but their participation can only be confirmed in August.
TSG riders Mohd Aiman Zarif and Nurul Amirul Fakhruddin won the King of the Mountains jersey in the first and second stages respectively while national cyclist Nur Aiman Zarif snatched the Best Asian Cyclist jersey in the third stage last year.
Langkawi and Sarawak were not listed for LTdL 2023.
– Bernama / The Sun
