Tour de Langkawi kicks off
The Star, 9/2/2008
ALOR STAR: Some 148 Le Tour de
Langkawi participants from 25 professional teams from around the
world kick-started their nine-day cycling event in front of Kedah’s
key landmarks, the Balai Besar and Masjid Zahir state mosque,
on Saturday.
The annual international cycling
event, being held for the 13th time, was flagged off by Mentri
Besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid at noon Saturday.
The participants will cycle a total
of 1,377.4km from Alor Star and they are expected to arrive at
Kuala Lumpur Criterium on the final leg of the tour on Feb 17.
The first stage of the tour covers
a total of 182.6km from Alor Star to Kepala Batas, north Seberang
Prai via Jitra, Kangar, Air Hitam, Mergong, Sarang Semut, Gurun
and Sungai Petani.
The second stage, which starts
Sunday, will span 159.7km from Butterworth to Sitiawan in Perak.
The third stage, from Sitiawan
to Banting covering 209.4km is scheduled for Feb 11. While stage
four, spanning 169km from Port Dickson to Batu Pahat is scheduled
for Feb 12.
Subsequent stages will be from
Johor Baru to Bandar Penawar (139.9km), Bandar Penawar to Kuala
Rompin (182km), Kuala Rompin to Kuantan (127.6km), Temerloh to
Bukit Fraser (127km) and then to Kuala Lumpur Criterium (80.4km).
Among the teams participating in
the annual event are five Pro Tour teams and 10 teams from Asia,
three Pro Tour Teams from France, AG2r La Mondiale, Bouygues Telecom
and Credit Agricole.
The Pro-Continental Teams are Karpin
Galicia (Spain), CSF Group-Navigare (Ireland), Tinkoff Credit
Systems (Italy), Skil Shimano (Netherlands), Skil Shimano (Netherlands),
NDC Medical OTC Industria Porte (Switzerland), Team Type 1 (United
States), and Serramenti PVC Diquiguivanni-Androni Giocattoli (Venezuela).
The Continental teams are Gerolsteiner
–Team ISTA (Germany), Meitan Hompo–GDR (Japan), Seoul
Cycling (South Korea), Letua Cycling Team (Malaysia), MNCF Cycling
Team (Malaysia), Trek Marco Polo Team (China), Polygon Sweet Nice
Team (Indonesia), Giant Asia Racing Team (Taipei), South Australia.com
AIS (Australia), Drapac Porche (Australia) and Azad University
Cycling Team (Iran).
The event has also attracted national
teams from Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa and Hong Kong.
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