KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 — The oldest cycling race in Asia, the 54th edition of the Jelajah Malaysia (JM54) that was supposed to be held from February 28-March 2 has been postponed to May 28-30.
According to a statement issued by the organisers, the three-stage 417.2-kilometre (km) race was postponed after discussions with and the approval of the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF).
The statement added that the new dates were also chosen after getting the views from the MNCF and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).
“We (the organisers) will continue with our preparations for JM54 and (we) will work on improving the weaknesses and errors that caused the race to be postponed.
“The teams who have agreed to participate in the JM54 have also been informed of the postponement and they too have agreed to the new dates,” the statement added.
The initially planned 728.45-km five-stage race has been cut down to three stages, with Stage One from Shah Alam to Teluk Intan (154.3km), Stage Two from Bagan Datuk to Tanah Rata (139.7km) and Stage Three from Tapah to Meru Jaya (123.2km).
Yesterday, the organisers announced that the race, which is classified under Category 2.2 by the UCI and was supposed to be held from Feb 26-March 2, would instead be held from Feb 28-March 2.
A total of 24 teams with 120 professional cyclists from Europe, Asia, Oceania and the United States have confirmed their attendance for this year’s event after a four-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. — Bernama
