KUALA LUMPUR, FRIDAY - Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), extends its long standing support to Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) for the 18th time this year, remaining as among the few sponsors who have been part of the prestigious Hors-Classe tour since its inception in 1996.
This time around, apart from its role as the Official Telecommunications Partner of LTdL, providing telecommunication facilities for the race, TM will also be introducing for the first time, the TM Best Malaysian Rider awards.
The awards, which carry a total cash prize of RM10,000 will be for three (3) categories - TM Best Malaysian Sprinter (Raja Pecut), TM Best Malaysian Climber (Raja Bukit) and TM Overall Malaysian Champion.
Present at the announcement of TM’s involvement in this year’s edition of LTdL was Dato’ Rozalila Abdul Rahman, Chief Marketing Officer, TM, together with Dato’ Mohid Mohamed, Secretary-General, Ministry of Youth and Sports and Emir Abdul Jalal, Chief Operating Officer, Le Tour De Langkawi.
Dato’ Rozalila shared, “TM is proud to once again be involved in this prestigious international cycling event. As the Official Telecommunications Partner, throughout the 10-day tournament, TM will be equipping the Secretariat, Media Centre and results bus at each stage of the race with telecommunication facilities which include fixed line telephones, fax, as well as Internet access, both wired and wireless.”
“TM has always been supportive of any national events which will put Malaysia on the map and TM is proud to be part of LTdL. We are also happy to introduce the inaugural TM Best Malaysian Rider awards, specially tailored for our Malaysian riders. We hope that the awards will not only boost the local riders’ morale but also ignite healthy competition spirit amongst the 16 Malaysians representing five (5) different teams at this edition of LTdL.” added Dato’ Rozalila.
TM also hopes, through its involvement, to continue playing a part in promoting healthy lifestyle particularly among the younger generations by generating the interest in cycling.
Further elaborating on the new line up of awards, Emir Abdul Jalal said, “The TM Best Malaysian Sprinter award is expected to spark further motivation to the battle between the country's top sprinters led by Azerbaijan's Synergy Baku Cycling Project team's Anuar Manan and his former teammates, Harrif Saleh and Zamri Saleh of the Terengganu Cycling Team. Another prospect could be Ahmad Haidar Anuawar of the OCBC Singapore team, who after returning to competitive cycling last year, should be finding his form this time around.”
“Adiq Husainie Othman of China's Champion System Pro Cycling Team, will start as the favourite for the TM Best Malaysian Climber award, having finished last year's race as the best ranked Malaysian, just ahead of Terengganu Cycling Team's Saufi Mat Senan.” he added.
“It is also worth highlighting that Saufi's teammate, Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Marzuki has recently shown he could be a possible threat as well, having finished fourth overall in the mountainous Tour of Injen in Indonesia in November. National team riders, Amir Mustafa Rusli and Fauzan Ahmad Lutfi are two experienced riders not to be discounted in the battle for the top climber award, both being former national road champions and proving capable climbers under the guidance of coach Aminudin Sulaiman,” explained Emir.
An interesting twist to the climbers' battle is the fact that it won't necessarily be the Cameron Highlands and Genting climbs that decide the outcome, but those who collect the most mountains classification points along the 10 stages.
“The TM Overall Malaysian Champion award should go to the rider ranked highest in the general classification which will likely be a battle between the likes of Adiq Husainie, Saufi, Nur Amirull, Amir, Fauzan and the darkhorse Ng Yong Li of Taiwan's RTS Cycling Team.”
“Yong Li has previously finished as the best ranked Malaysian in three editions of LTdL, but his last three outings have been disappointing. Should he find his old form, he might spring a surprise,” Emir concluded.
To add to the atmosphere, TM will also be setting up booths at selected venues promoting its latest products and services. Various interesting activities and games have also been lined up for the visitors, including families, at the booths.
The LTdL 2013, which carries the slogan "The Heat is On", will officially begin in Kangar on February 21 and the race comprises 10 stages, covering 1469.7 kilometres.
The race is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.HC (hors category) race on the UCI Asia Tour calendar, organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, via the National Sports Council (NSC) in association with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF).
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