Fraser's Hill to stand
in for Genting in LTdL 2008
22/1/2008
 Kuala
Lumpur – The Organizing Committee of the Le Tour de Langkawi
2008, with a heavy heart but in the interest of the safety of
cyclists and members of the public, have decided to shift the
Genting stage for this year’s Tour to Fraser’s Hill,
another popular holiday destination in the country.
Minister of Youth and Sports, Datuk Sri
Azalina Othman Said, has been informed of the latest development
and has given her approval to the change of venue for the mountain
stage challenge. The dates of the race remained unchanged from
Feb 9 to 17.
Due to the Chinese New Year festivities
during the first half of February, over 150,000 holiday-makers
are expected to converge in Genting Highlands. “This is
one of Genting’s busiest periods and the management informed
us that it would be difficult to totally close the roads all the
way too the peak as is usually done,” said Datuk Naim Mohamad,
the Chief Operating Officer of the Le Tour de Langkawi.
“The Genting management proposed finishing
the stage at Gohtong Jaya,” said Datuk Naim. “But
the Organizing Committee felt that with such high volume of traffic
trying to access the resort, it could lead to massive jams and
worse still, safety issues.”
“And so in the interest of
everyone, we felt the right thing to do would be to shift the
climb to Fraser’s Hill,” he said. The technical team
have surveyed the route to Fraser’s and have given the thumbs
up.
Safety of riders is of utmost importance
in a race with a Hors Classe tag like Le Tour de Langkawi. As
such, the Organizing Committee is left with no choice but to resort
to the change of venue
Although the Genting stage has been shifted,
the company will continue to be a major sponsor of the Le Tour
de Langkawi 2008. The prestigious King of the Mountain jersey
and award will be sponsored by Resorts World.
“Genting is indeed very gracious and
have agreed to continue being a sponsor for the Tour despite the
circumstances. We would like to place on record our appreciation
to Resorts World for being a loyal supporter and partner of the
Tour,” said Datuk Naim today.
A total of 25 teams are slated for the 13th
edition of the Tour. With the increased participation and the
return of the Pro Tour teams, combined with the support of the
Ministry of Youth and Sports, who are the main organizers, the
2008 Tour is set to be the best ever since its inception in 1996.
The Tour is also sanctioned by the Malaysian
National Cycling Federation (MNCF), the Union Cycliste Internationale
(UCI) and the Asian Cycling Confederation.
One of the major differences in the forthcoming
Tour is the idea of taking it closer to the people. More events
will be organised on the ground which such as carnival-like activities
at all start and finish venues. One of the side events to be included
will be cycling clinics.
One of the priorities for the Tour next year is to promote cycling
at the grass root level. This will be done via the Rukun Tetangga
and Kampung Baru programmes. One of the other key messages will
be to encourage more Malaysians to take up cycling as a means
to a healthier lifestyle.
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