PUTRAJAYA: The organiser of the Le Tour de Langkawi, the National Sports Council (NSC) has provided assurances that the state election results will not affect the race route.
Its director-general, Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail (pix) said the route for the race, scheduled from Sept 23 to 30, will remain as announced, but should there be any unforeseen incidents like bad weather or floods, they would make an ad-hoc decision.
“Currently, preparations are going well and we have set up a secretariat. We have also conducted a recce of the route with the cooperation of the Public Works Department and other parties, so no changes to the route,” he said after the handover of the Jalur Gemilang flag to the national contingent to the Commonwealth Youth Games 2023 at Menara KBS here today.
LTdL 2023 crisscrosses 11 states, with Stage 1: Kerteh to Kuala Terengganu (184.4 kilometres (km)), Stage 2: Kuala Terengganu to Kota Bharu (186.2km); Stage 3: Jeli to Baling (177.1km); Stage 4: Bukit Mertajam to Meru Raya (140km); Stage 5: Slim River to Genting Highlands (133.3km); Stage 6: Karak to Melaka (176.6km); Stage 7: Muar to Seremban 2 (125.7km) and Stage 8: Setia Alam to Kuala Lumpur (157km).
Ahmad Shapawi also confirmed that prize money has been prepared, which will be payed through the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and that they were looking for sponsors in addition to receiving a government allocation of RM8 million.
“Insya-Allah we are approaching a few sponsors, big sponsors, we hope they will be attracted to the offer to make LTdL a success as our aim is to fulfil the organisation costs, which is over RM8 million,” he said.
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh meanwhile expressed her relief at the decision by UCI to relist LTdL 2023 on its international calendar yesterday and hoped that it would convince more sponsors to sign up.
“We urge sponsors who have interest to contact the NSC immediately as we don’t have much time. I believe the NSC with the cooperation of all parties can make LTdL a success, Demi Malaysia,” she said. -Bernama
