WHETHER the new Tour of Peninsular (ToP) becomes an annual event or not will depend on how successful the inaugural edition on Oct 15-19 will be.
Organising a road cycling stage race is not cheap, it often costs millions to host a UCI entry-level event in Malaysia and subsequently financing such events is never easy.
ToP, which is organised by Motoshoot Event Sdn Bhd, is expected to cost upwards of RM3.5 million to run this year.
Its chief operating officer Emir Abdul Jalal, however, is no stranger to running such races as he had helped organise multiple editions of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) in the past.
“ToP is slightly different from other stage races here as it is directly registered under Motoshoot Event Sdn Bhd with the UCI (rather than being registered by the national body),” said Emir.
“We are in the process of finalising our sponsorship for the event and are talking to a number of parties from the private sector.
“Our survival and whether or not this becomes an annual event will depend on how we do this year. If we can produce a real good race with enough sponsorship, then we will continue."
ToP is Malaysia's first ever UCI 2.1 stage race which places the competition just a step under the UCI 2.HC status that LTdL possesses and a step above the UCI 2.2 status awarded to smaller races such as Jelajah Malaysia.
Emir made it clear that for ToP, it is not necessary to spend as much as it does to host hors categorie (HC) events such as LTdL.
“When I led (the organising of) LTdL in the past, we had done it with (a budget) as much as RM20 million (per edition) when we had good sponsorship," added Emir.
“But we had also done it with RM16 million, RM14 million and even with a limited budget of RM5.5 million in my final year in charge, it was still possible.
“What I am trying to make clear here is that ToP does not have to be done on such a large scale such as LTdL. In terms of logistics, it can be done similar to that of a UCI 2.2 event.
“The difference in budget (to a UCI 2.2 event) is due to the higher prize money on offer as well as the bigger teams involved which require higher appearance fees.
“A UCI 2.2 event can be done for roughly RM2 million while for this UCI 2.1 event, it can be run for as low as RM3.5 to RM4 million. If we have a bigger budget, we can of course make it better and invite bigger teams.
“But for this first year we are not going overboard with the event and we are trying to run it with as minimal budget as possible. We can continue to grow the event in later years.”
ToP will be held over five stages this year, starting in Terengganu and ending in Kuala Lumpur.