KUALA LUMPUR: After struggling with organisational issues in the past, this year’s Jelajah Malaysia, which ended on Sunday, was a breath of fresh air both on and off the road.
Admittedly, the absence of Iran's Pishgaman and South Korea’s KSPO did open up the competition – though it was still a formidable field with the majority of top teams coming from Southeast Asia.
Australian outfit Oliver's Real Food Racing took top honours, with the yellow jersey going to their South African rider Brendon Davids and grey (young riders classification) to Ryan Thomas.
Malaysian riders also did well, with Terengganu Cycling Team's Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki, Adiq Husainie Othman and Harrif Saleh winning three out of the five stages.
Jelajah Malaysia chief executive officer Noraidiazhar Sulaiman, whose company Life Pro Fit Sdn Bhd organised the UCI 2.2 level stage race this year, made the assurance that all prize money and other payments will be settled within a month.
"We have already paid up 80 per cent of what is owed to the contractors, and will settle the rest, including prize money, within a month.
"We had set an initial budget of RM4.5 million this year, but managed to do it with RM3.8 million. We saved on logistics,” he said.
Noraidiazhar disclosed that he has big plans for next year’s race if given the responsibility of organising it again.
"We hope to expand the race to seven stages next season, and add a team time trial for the final stage to make it more exciting.
"A team time trial is quite tough on the teams compared to a normal stage, as it requires the whole team to perform at a high level,” he added.