“Genting Highlands is known worldwide as the trademark of our race”, said the chief operating officer of Le Tour de Langkawi Emir Abdul Jalal. “Stage 4 will definitely be the queen-stage this year.”
For the 19th edition of LTdL, Genting Malaysia Berhad once again continues its sponsorship with a contribution worth RM 800,000.00 in cash and kind, to ensure the success of the ‘Hottest race’ in Asia. Genting Malaysia is also the sponsor for the red KOM jersey.
Genting Malaysia’s Vice President, Corporate Services Dato’ Kay Prakash presented the mock-cheque and LTdL 2014 KOM Red jersey to the National Sports Council Director General Dato' Seri Zolkples Embong at LTdL Headquarters, Bukit Jalil.
“Genting Malaysia has been a ‘traditional sponsor’ for Le Tour de Langkawi for the past 19 years. This year, once again we are proud to continue our support as the main sponsor and also the sponsor for the King of the Mountain red jersey, which is the much sought after win among the riders. We are honoured that the Genting stage has the distinction of being known as the ‘Queen-stage’, from which a champion will emerge,” said Dato’ Kay Prakash.
“From its inception in 1996, we have seen this local event grow and gain recognition at the international arena. We are pleased to be a part of this driving force that attracts cyclists and teams from all around the world to participate in Asia’s best cycling race,” added Dato’ Kay.
The winner in 2013 wasn’t very famous yet but since then, Julian Arredondo has confirmed LTdL and its legendary summit as a champion-making machine.
The Colombian won the 2013 Asia Tour overall and moved from Japanese continental outfit Nippo-De Rosa onto Pro Team Trek Factory Racing for which he started his first real pro season with winning two stages at the Tour of San Luis in Argentina in January.
“We’re honored to read through the international media mentions about Le Tour de Langkawi when there are reports about Arredondo’s most recent successes”, Emir noted.
Among the riders who were first noticed on a world scale because of performing at LTdL and Genting Highlands remain the big names of Paolo Bettini, Jens Voigt, Alexandre Vinokourov, Alessandro Petacchi [a king of the mountains in Malaysia before he became one of the world’s best sprinters], Levi Leipheimer, Chris Horner, Thomas Voeckler, Floyd Landis, Paolo Lanfranchi, Tom Danielson, José Serpa, José Rujano and more recently Chinese sensation Wang Meiyin.
Climbers looking at winning both stage 4 up to Genting Highlands and the overall classification of the nineteenth Le Tour de Langkawi will be last year’s runner up Peter Weening (Orica-GreenEdge) who really enjoyed his first taste of Malaysia’s legendary climb in 2013 before winning the World Tour event Tour of Poland, reigning Kazakh national champion Alexandr Dyachenko (Astana) who finished fourth two years ago, Tour of Turkey winner Natnael Berhane (Europcar) from Eritrea, Colombian hero Fabio Duarte (Team Colombia) who came second to Vincenzo Nibali in the stormy and snowy stage of the 2013 Giro d’Italia to the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Italy’s Emmanuele Sella (Androni-Venezuela) who came third overall at the 2011 LTdL, South Africa’s climbing sensation Louis Meintjes (MTN-Qhubeka) who was recently crowned road national champion ahead of Tour de France yellow jersey wearer Daryl Impey at the age of only 21 and Iran’s Tour of Qinghai Lake winner Mirsamad Pourseyedigolakhour (Tabriz).
“I think the race is wide open this year”, Emir said. “Many riders can dream of winning up Genting Highlands. We can expect a great cyclist to emerge as a star from the race once again.”
-www.ltdl.com.my
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