KUALA LUMPUR: The date for next year's Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) is expected to be maintained in September or October, said Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) committee member Datuk Amarjit Singh.
Amarjit who is also Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) vice president, said so far there are no plans to switch the prestigious race to its original dates in February or March because competition towards the year end is the best time to organise the Proseries status race.
"I think at the moment we are comfortable with a date at the end of the year and next year we are proposing the race be held in September or October. We are seeking approval from the UCI," he said when met at the introduction of Premier sponsors for the 2023 LTdL at the National Sports Council in Bukit Jalil today (September 14).
Also present was Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh.
Amarjit said setting the right date was important to attract world class teams, especially World Team status outfits to plan their time table next season.
In two or three years time there will be a renewal for the ProSeries calendar, so we must show, for example, five live broadcast, stable and efficient organising to ease the process of renewal of the race calendar.
"I feel in the next three years, the race organiser will be the same -- the Youth and Sports Ministry, the National Sports Council (NSC) and Petronas -- and that will be easier and planning can start much earlier," he said.
The LTdL was usually held in February or March since it was first organised in 1996 up until 2020, but following the Covid-19 pandemic, the calendar of the prestigious race was postponed to the end of the year in October, last year.
Today (September 14) he organisers of the LTdL announced Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) as the Premier sponsor for the most prestigious cycling race in the region.
The 2023 LTdL featuring 132 riders from 22 teams will be staged from Sept 23 to 30. – Bernama