Le Tour de Langkawi 2007
The yearly most awaited professional cycling event in Malaysia, Le Tour de Langkawi 2007, will kick off this Friday 2nd Feb 2007. This year’s racing is more interesting with the participation of 5 pro tour teams and 5 continental professional teams in addition to continental and national teams.
Pro Tour teams
Bouygues Telecom (France)
Credit Agricole (France)
Francaise des Jeux (France)
AG2R (France)
Unibet.com (Sweden)Continental professional teams
Tinkoff Credit Systems (Italy)
Panaria (Italy)
Selle Italia Seamenti Diquigiovanni (Venuezela),
Skil-Shimano (Holland)
Slipstream (USA)Continental teams
Victoria-ASC (Portugal)
SouthAustralia.com-AIS (Australia)
Nippo-Meitan (Japan)
Hong Kong Pro Cycling Team (Hong Kong)
Giant Asia Racing Team (Taiwan)
Discovery Channel-Marco Polo (China)
Polygon-Sweetnice (Indonesia)National teams
South Africa
South Korea
Iran
Malaysia
While last year’s race began in Penang and only had stages on the west coast, this year’s 10-stage tour will start in Langkawi and will take the cyclists through east coasts states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang. The most difficult stage is expected to be eighth one, which is the traditional climb from Shah Alam to Genting Highlands. The tour will end in Kuala Lumpur with criterium race over 12 laps on a city route.
And guess who are co-sponsoring this year event? It’s me and you, fellow Malaysian tax payors… because the government had decided to fund the race in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia Year 2007. I wish all the very best to the participants especially the Malaysian National Team. I honestly don’t think they would win this race as the have never won Le Tour de Langkawi previously, but as long as they put up some good challenges, the Malaysian National Team is already a winner…. at least from my point of view.
Which team and individual cyclist do you think will win this year’s tour? Please share with us your thoughts in the comments.
[tags]Le Tour de Langkawi, cycling, Langkawi, Bouygues Telecom, Credit Agricole, Francaise des Jeux, AG2R, Unibet.com, Tinkoff Credit Systems, Panaria, Selle Italia Seamenti Diquigiovanni, Skil-Shimano, Slipstream, Victoria-ASC, SouthAustralia.com-AIS, Nippo-Meitan, Hong Kong Pro Cycling, Giant Asia Racing Team, Discovery Channel-Marco Polo, Polygon-Sweetnice[/tags]
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