Tour de Langkawi
 | |
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Date | February–March |
| Region | Peninsular Malaysia |
| English name | Tour of Langkawi |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI Asia Tour 2.HC |
| Type | Stage race |
| Organiser | Malaysian National Cycling Federation |
| History | |
| First edition | 1996 |
| Editions | 18 (2013) |
| First winner |
 Damian McDonald (AUS) |
| Most wins |
 Paolo Lanfranchi (ITA) José Serpa (COL)(2 wins) |
| Most recent |
Julián Arredondo (COL) |
The Tour de Langkawi is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Malaysia, and named after Langkawi. The race was first organized in 1996 and has been held annually since its first edition in 1996. As the Tour gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened and its reach began to extend around the globe. The Tour is usually held during February and March. The race usually consist of 10 day-long segment (stages) over 10 days. While the route changes each year, Genting Highlands destination always included. The race is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.HC (hors category) race as part of the UCI Asia Tour calendar.
All of the stages are timed to the finish, after finishing the riders' times are compounded with their previous stage times. The rider with the lowest aggregate time is the leader of the race and gets to don the yellow jersey. While the general classification garners the most attention there are other contests held within the Tour: the points classification for the sprinters, the mountains classification for the climbers, Asian rider classification for the Asian rider, the team classification for the competing teams and the Asian team classification for the competing Asian teams. The 2013 edition of the race was won by Colombia's Julián Arredondo of Team Nippo.
History
The race
The race was formed based by the idea of former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad, along with Wan Adli Wan Ibrahim and Izmee Che Ismail of First Cartel. The race was successfully held for the first time in 1996. The tour visited in Sabah and Sarawak in 1997, however poor cargo service led to long delays for several teams in transporting luggage (and even their riders), causing several of the major teams to refuse to participate in the second stage of the tour. These threats forced organisers to cancel the stage.[1] Since then, the race never re-visited the area.
Several incidents spiced up the race in history, stages of the race were cancelled twice due to heavy downpour in the final stage back in 2003 and 2006.[2] During the first stage in 2004, 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.[3]
Genting Highlands is the toughest climb in the tour, except in 2008, it was replaced by Fraser's Hill due to security reasons and set to comeback again in 2009. The tour ended with twelve laps criterium race in Dataran Merdeka.
Past winners
General classification
Points classification
Mountains classification
Asian rider classification
Team classification
Asian team classification
| Year | Based | Team name |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 |  | Philippines (national team) |
| 1999 |  | Malaysia (national team) |
| 2000 |  | Japan (national team) |
| 2001 | | Telekom Malaysia Cycling Team |
| 2002 | | Telekom Malaysia Cycling Team |
| 2003 |  | Iran (national team) |
| 2004 | | Iran (national team) |
| 2005 | | Iran (national team) |
| 2006 | | Japan (national team) |
| 2007 |  | Giant Asia Racing Team |
| 2008 |  | Seoul Cycling Team |
| 2009 | | Iran (national team) |
| 2010 | | Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team |
| 2011 | | Tabriz Petrochemical Team |
| 2012 |  | Astana |
| 2013 | | Tabriz Petrochemical Team |
References
- ↑ Abt, Samuel (1997-02-21). "3 Pro Teams Balk at Logistics in Asian Bike Race". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
- ↑ Tan, Anthony (2003-02-09). "Bongiorno triumphs in KL; Danielson safely home". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
- ↑ Tan, Anthony. "Sprintless finale to first day". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Le Tour de Langkawi. |
- Official website
- Tour de Langkawi at cyclingnews.com
- Tour de Langkawi at cyclingarchives.com
- Tour de Langkawi at the-sports.org
- Tour de Langkawi at cqranking.com
- Tour de Langkawi on Facebook
- Tour de Langkawi on Twitter
- Tour de Langkawi's channel on YouTube