Minister of Youth and Sports Khairy Jamaluddin (right) with ATM chief General Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin (second right) and LTdL 2016 chief executive officer Emir Abdul Jalal (second left) after announcing the LTdL 2016 race route in Putrajaya yesterday. — Bernama photo
PUTRAJAYA: The 21st edition of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) from Feb 24 to March 2 will be marked by a first ever grand finish in the historic city of Melaka, while an eight-stage race format will see teams preparing for another gruelling challenge.
Minister of Youth and Sports Khairy Jamaluddin announced yesterday that the 2016 race route will redefine LTdL as “Asia’s Ultimate Challenge” a battleground where top 11 world class teams from Europe will compete with 11 of Asia’s best.
“Not only that, we are expecting an exciting competition from all the riders.
“The composition of the route will test all aspects of their capability, it will be an open race until the very end and will definitely keep the fans excited,” said Khairy as quoted in the LTdL official website.
The race will start in Kangar, Perlis.
Langkawi will not feature due to the high cost involved to stage the race there while for a second year running, renovation works at the summit of Genting Highlands will mean the race will not feature its famous queen stage again and this time the similarly gruelling climb up Cameron Highlands will play its part as the decisive stage that can determine the overall winner.
The final day of the race sees a start in Batu Pahat, Johor, covering 119.9km race to Dataran Pahlawan, Melaka.
LTdL 2016 chief executive officer Emir Abdul Jalal said with the profile of the race set this way, teams will likely line up some climbers to clinch the overall title in Cameron Highlands.
“We can expect it to be a race for the spectators at the finish lines to enjoy. We can already visualise the peloton hitting top speed on a number of occasions,” said Emir.
“In terms of promotion, we will continue our collaboration with sports channel Eurosports.
“Highlights of the race will be broadcasted in Eurosports Asia Pacific and 80 minutes in Eurosport 1, Eurosport 2 to over 100 countries at an estimation of 500 million viewers.
“Also with Internet TV site Cycling TV that has over a million subscribers worldwide.” — Bernama