KUALA LUMPUR: The stage is set for women riders from around the world to sizzle here as Malaysia committed itself to hosting yet another top international cycle race — Le Tour de Femina slated for Sept 7-12.
Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman earlier today (Friday) launched the Le Tour de Femina, marking yet another milestone as the first international full-fledged women’s stage race categorised under UCI’s Asia Tour calendar to be held on Malaysia soil.
Le Tour de Femina will be organised by Ciclista Sports Sdn Bhd in collaboration with the Sport Ministry and Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF).
Categorised as a UCI-2.1(WE) event, the 6-stage race will cover a total distance of 719.9 km.
The race is expected to draw participation from some of the world’s notable women riders and teams from Europe, America, Oceania and Asia.
Jitra, located some 25km from Alor Star, earns the honour as the first host of the race, becoming the starting venue for the 116.1 km-Stage 1 challenge to Kulim.
Stage 2 (117.1km) will see the riders going from Permatang Pauh in Penang to Kuala Kangsar in Perak while the Stage 3 (124.2km) will present a challenging climb up on winding roads from Tapah to Fraser’s Hill which could decide the overall champion.
Stage 4 will take riders from Shah Alam to Melaka (132km) while the short penultimate stage from Jasin to Muar (112.3km) provides riders with some respite before wrapping up the battle with a fast race over 118.2km from Tampin to Cyberjaya. In his officiating speech, Syed Saddiq congratulated Ciclista Sports Sdn Bhd for initiating the race, saying that the staging of Le Tour de Femina marked another milestone for Malaysian cycling, fans, stakeholders, followers and the Rakyat in general.
“The move is in line with UCI’s efforts to provide equal opportunities for women to compete in top notch cycling races and open up more avenues for women riders to scale greater heights in the sport,” he said.