Tour de Langkawi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tour de Langkawi participants passing through Kuala Selangor | |
Race details | |
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Date | Late-January, early-February |
Region | Peninsular Malaysia |
English name | Tour of Langkawi |
Local name(s) | Tour de Langkawi |
Discipline | Road |
Competition | UCI Asia Tour 2.1 |
Type | Stage race |
History | |
First edition | 1996 |
Editions | 13 (as of 2008) |
First winner | Damian McDonald |
Most wins | Paolo Lanfranchi (2) |
Most recent | Ruslan Ivanov |
The Tour de Langkawi (French for "Tour of Langkawi") is an annual cycling race which is held in Malaysia. The name of the event comes from the starting point of the first few editions, in Langkawi, Kedah, although some later editions did not include Langkawi in the race at all. The race is part of the UCI Asia Tour.
Contents |
[edit] History
The race was created by former Malaysian Prime Ministers Tun Mahathir Mohamad. It was held for the first time in 1996 with twelve stages and a prologue stage where the classification and time do not count. However, under the UCI's request, the tour was trimmed to ten stages starting with the 2002 tour.
There have been two incidents that caused stage cancellation. First it occurred in the first stage of the 2004 edition with police officials mistakenly opening the way for public vehicles onto the race track while the race was still ongoing to decide the winner of the first stage. After negotiations between the riders, they decided to neutralise the stage.
The final stage of the 2006 competition was cancelled with ten laps remaining due to heavy rain. Because of deteriorating road conditions, the race organisers decided to abandon the stage and declared Angel Vallejo as winner because he was leading at the time of the cancellation.
[edit] Famous stages
Genting Highlands and Dataran Merdeka are the two most famous stages.
Genting Highlands is a mountain stage with the toughest stages of the tour, where riders need a lot of stamina for the last five kilometres of the climb. In the 2008 event, this stage was replaced by a leg from Temerloh to Fraser’s Hill.[1]
Dataran Merdeka is a circuit race stage in Kuala Lumpur, and the final stage of the tour. However, the winner of the tour is usually decided before this stage begins.
[edit] Jersey colours
Throughout its race history, varying colours of jerseys have been awarded to the current leader and overall winner of several of the race's classifications.
- General Classification
- Yellow Jersey, which is fashioned after the maillot jaune worn by the overall leader and final winner in the Tour de France, despite the fact that the sponsoring company is Telekom Malaysia, which does not have yellow in its logo or marketing. However, 2006 marked the end of Telekom Malaysia as tile sponsor since 2001, Proton came as replacement as jersey sponsor, while the traditional color is not change, the jersey also adding blue color as stripe to match the logo.
- Mountains Classification
- White with Red Polka Dot Jersey, which is based upon the leader of the King of the Mountains in the Tour de France and selected by its sponsor, the Genting Group.
- Sprint Classification
- Blue Jersey, which is sponsored by Proton. Prior to 2004, Petronas sponsored the jersey as the Green Jersey but dropped its sponsorship when the stage race was branded as TM Le Tour de Langkawi. But 2007 marked the comeback of Petronas as the jersey sponsor, and it armend to green jersey again.
- Best Asian Rider
- Blue and White starting in 2007 and sponsored by Telekom Malaysia (the former title sponsor). Previous colors included the 2006 version of white, blue and red jersey sponsored by the Tourism Board of Malaysia and prior to that it was the blue and red jersey sponsored by Malaysian Airlines.
[edit] Previous winners
[edit] General (Overall winner)
Year | Winner | Team |
---|---|---|
1996 | Damian McDonald | Giant-AIS |
1997 | Luca Scinto | MG-Technogym |
1998 | Gabriele Missaglia | Mapei-Bricobi |
1999 | Paolo Lanfranchi | Mapei-Quickstep |
2000 | Chris Horner | Mercury Cycling Team |
2001 | Paolo Lanfranchi | Mapei-Quickstep |
2002 | Hernan Dario Muñoz | Colombia-Selle Italia |
2003 | Tom Danielson | Saturn Cycling Team |
2004 | Freddy Gonzalez Martinez | Colombia-Selle Italia |
2005 | Ryan Cox | Barloworld |
2006 | David George | South Africa |
2007 | Anthony Charteau | Crédit Agricole |
2008 | Ruslan Ivanov | Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli |
[edit] Point (Sprint)
Year | Winner | Team |
---|---|---|
1996 | ??? | ??? |
1997 | ??? | ??? |
1998 | Fred Rodriguez | Saturn Cycling Team |
1999 | Graeme Miller | New Zealand |
2000 | Gord Fraser | Mercury Cycling Team |
2001 | Paolo Bettini | Mapei-Quickstep |
2002 | Robert Hunter | Mapei-Quickstep |
2003 | Graeme Brown | Ceramiche Panaria-Fiordo |
2004 | Gord Fraser | Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis |
2005 | Graeme Brown | Ceramica Panaria-Navigare |
2006 | Steffen Radochla | Team Wiesenhof-AKUD |
2007 | Alberto Loddo | Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Selle Italia |
2008 | Aurélien Clerc | Bouygues Télécom |
[edit] King of the Mountain
Year | Winner | Team |
---|---|---|
1996 | ??? | ??? |
1997 | ??? | ??? |
1998 | Douglas Ryder | South Africa |
1999 | Alessandro Petacchi | Ceramica Panaria-Navigare |
2000 | Julio Alberto Perez | Ceramica Panaria-Navigare |
2001 | Paolo Lanfranchi | Mapei-Quickstep |
2002 | Ruber Alveiro Marin | Colombia-Selle Italia |
2003 | Roland Green | Canada |
2004 | Ruber Alveiro Marin | Colombia-Selle Italia |
2005 | Ryan Cox | Barloworld |
2006 | David George | South Africa |
2007 | Walter Pedraza | Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Selle Italia |
2008 | Filippo Savini | CSF Group-Navigare |
[edit] Best Asian riders
Year | Winner | Team |
---|---|---|
1996 | ??? | ??? |
1997 | ??? | ??? |
1998 | Tonton Susanto | Indonesia |
1999 | Hideto Yukinari | Japan |
2000 | Wong Kam-po | Telekom Malaysia All-Star |
2001 | Wong Kam-po | Telekom Malaysia |
2002 | Tonton Susanto | Telekom Malaysia |
2003 | Tomoya Kano | Japan |
2004 | Ghader Mizbani Iranagh | Iran |
2005 | Koji Fukushima | Bridgestone Anchor |
2006 | Hossein Askari | Giant Asia Racing Team |
2007 | Ghader Mizbani Iranagh | Giant Asia Racing Team |
2008 | Shinichi Fukushima | Meitan Hompo-GDR |
[edit] Team overall
Year | Team |
---|---|
1996 | Giant-AIS |
1997 | MG-Technogym |
1998 | Mapei-Bricobi |
1999 | Mapei-Quick Step |
2000 | Mercury Cycling Team |
2001 | Mapei-Quick Step |
2002 | Mapei-Quickstep |
2003 | Colombia-Selle Italia |
2004 | Barloworld |
2005 | Barloworld |
2006 | Selle Italia-Diquigiovanni |
2007 | Giant Asia Racing Team |
2008 | Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli |
[edit] Asian team overall
Year | Team |
---|---|
1996 | ??? |
1997 | ??? |
1998 | Philippines |
1999 | Malaysia |
2000 | Japan |
2001 | Telekom Malaysia |
2002 | Telekom Malaysia |
2003 | Iran |
2004 | Iran |
2005 | Iran |
2006 | Japan |
2007 | Giant Asia Racing Team |
2008 | Seoul Cycling Team |
[edit] Financial difficulties
In 2004, the then owner of the event, Datuk Wan Lokman Dato Wan Ibrahim (a cousin of former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad) sold the entire Tour to Simon Donnellan (aka Imran Abdullah). The 2005 race was beset with financial problems, with some riders not receiving prize money and large contractors not being paid. With this dark cloud hanging over it and impending legal action, the 2006 race was run on a smaller scale. There have been allegations of fraud and mismanagement, but the accusers have, after many months, still failed to produce any evidence that this is the case apart from pointing to the lack of funds for creditors. In late 2006 the Malaysian government resolved some of the outstanding debts in order to preserve the future of the event. Responsibility for the running of the race was given to the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF). In the week preceding the 2007 race, the former organizers First Cartel were legally wound up in the Malaysian High Court. This left creditors in an uncertain position. Donnellan, MD of First Cartel, now has no further interest in the race, although there remains some dispute over the ownership of the event's name. Donnellan was also banned from being within 100m metres of the 2007 race, however he was regularly spotted at the event acting as if nothing had happened.
Because of the difficulties, the 2007 edition was in doubt for a period until it was cleared by the UCI. Several teams reported they had not received part or all of their prize money. The South Africa team insisted that they only received for 2005 edition prize money and were still owed for the 2006 edition.[2]
This issue has been raised for a year but still unsolved, although they are several other teams also in the same position such as Barloworld, American Pro Continental Team Navigators Insurance, Wismilak, Iran, Great Britain, Ireland and Japan.[3][4]
First Cartel (M) Sdn Bhd, the organiser, is responsible in this case and has struggled to rectify the situation while trying to repay a loan of RM 2.5 million taken out to buy out the previous owner, Datuk Wan Lokman. The event is reported to have amassed debts of RM2.3 million for television rights, and also some RM470,394 in failing to pay the winners of this year's race. The company has been able to honour some but not all of the debts.
Unverified reports suggested that First Cartel (M) Sdn Bhd has been dropped organising the tour and the role taken over by the Youth and Sports Ministry, which prepared some RM2.9 million to bail out of this issue.[5]
More recent reports indicate that the event is the victim of a power struggle within the Malaysian National Cycling Federation which has led to bitter and false claims being made in the Malaysian Press, particularly the New Straits Times. The Malaysian government is reported to be unhappy with the feud and to be insisting that it be resolved in the interests of the future of the event.[6]
UCI put September 1, 2006 as deadline to solve out the problem, but two days before the end of deadline, the announcement made as the 2007 edition go ahead.[7] This is in spite of the MNCF poor record at organising events such as the Jelajah Malaysia.[8]
The Events Group, which was involved 1998 to 2005, was bought back to run the race for 2007 to help maintain the high standard of organisation that has been achieved. Alan Rushton from The Events Group was employed under a directive from the UCI to involve personnel from the previously successful editions.
[edit] References
- ^ No Genting stage for this year’s Tour of Langkawi. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
- ^ Cycling/Ltdl Fiasco: South Africans may stay away. Retrieved on 2006-08-21.
- ^ Loose ends from Langkawi.
- ^ Japanese team counts on promise of payment.
- ^ First Cartel Dropped as Organiser Of LTdL. Retrieved on 2008-08-21.
- ^ Government decision due on organisation of Tour de Langkawi.
- ^ Le Tour de Langkawi will go on, says Tourism Minister. Retrieved on 2006-09-02.
- ^ Tour de Langkawi saved - almost. Retrieved on 2006-09-02.
[edit] External links
Tour de Langkawi |
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1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |