KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 (Bernama) -- The premier cycling tour race in the country, Petronas Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) 2024, scheduled to take place from Sept 29 to Oct 6, will be heated up with the presence of three 'World Team' status teams.
They are EF Education–EasyPost from the United States, Astana Qazaqstan Team (Kazakhstan), and Team DSM–Firmenich PostNL from the Netherlands, marking an increase compared to the two 'World Team' status teams that participated last year.
EF Education–EasyPost and Astana Qazaqstan had participated in the last edition.
“In terms of participation quota for this edition, it has met the ProSeries category quota outside of Europe for 10 invited teams, involving three World Teams and seven Pro Teams. This means an addition of one more World Team for 2024 compared to only two World Teams last year.
“This is a joint success at the level of the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) and the National Sports Council (MSN) in organising this ProSeries status event,” said MSN director-general Abdul Rashid Yaakub at a press conference to announce the teams competing in LTdL 2024 here today.
Abdul Rashid said the three 'World Team' teams each achieved their own successes in the prestigious Tour de France recently.
Meanwhile, he said among the seven 'Pro Team' teams participating are Spain-based Team Polti Kometa, Tudor Pro Cycling Team (Switzerland), VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane (Italy), and Equipo Kern Pharma from Spain.
Completing the list are nine continental status teams, including Terengganu Cycling Team and Malaysia Pro Cycling Team, as well as three national teams, namely Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, bringing the total to 22 teams competing in this 28th edition.
Abdul Rashid also said that MSN, as the organiser of LTdL 2024, will introduce a special cycling event for LTdL loyal fans, namely the Domestique By Petronas LTdL 2024, on Sept 28.
He said among the special features of the cycling event is that participants can enjoy the real atmosphere of the LTdL by cycling on the route of stage one of LTdL 2024, covering 96.5 kilometres (km) around Langkawi Island, with the prize presentation ceremony to be held on the LTdL 2024 podium.
"This event is similar to the L’Etape by Tour de France and Ride Like A Pro by Giro d’Italia, which are very popular worldwide,” he said.
In addition, he said the organiser will also provide slots for the winners of four main categories and four lucky draw winners to participate in one of the stages of LTdL 2024 in Peninsular Malaysia.
In a related development, LTdL Chief Operating Officer Emir Abdul Jalil said the route of the fourth stage of the race featuring the climb at Bukit Fraser will be changed after receiving advice from the International Cycling Union (UCI).
“Recently, we had a request from UCI after a fatal accident in Austria and a major accident in France recently, the downhill route may be skipped as it is dangerous for the race...so the route will go up to The Gap and then down to Bentong town,” he said.
The 28th edition of the most prestigious cycling race in Asia will see Langkawi Island back on the race route, which will also feature two stages for the first time to be held in Sarawak, with a total distance covering 1,227.2 km.
-- BERNAMA
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