The Tour de Langkawi is a
multiple stage bicycle race
"Bicycle Race" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was released on their 1978 album ''Jazz'' and written by Queen's lead singer Freddie Mercury. It was released as a double A-side single together with the song "Fat Bottomed Girls", rea ...
held in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
. It is named after the
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arch ...
Langkawi
Langkawi, officially known by its sobriquet Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah ( ms, Langkawi Permata Kedah ), is a duty-free island and an archipelago of 99 islands (plus five small islands visible only at low tide in the Strait of Malacca) loc ...
, where the first edition started and finished. The race has been held annually since 1996, primarily in February. It usually consists of 10-day-long segments (stages) over 10 days, but has been reduced to eight stages over recent years. While the route changes each year, the
Genting Highlands climb, the toughest in the tour, is always included. Tour de Langkawi is sanctioned by the
International Cycling Union (UCI) as a
2.HC road race in the
UCI Asia Tour
The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...
calendar. The race will become part of the new
UCI ProSeries in 2020.
All stages are timed to the finish. Times for each completed stage are compounded; the rider with the lowest aggregate time is the leader of the race and gets to wear the yellow jersey. While the
general classification garners the most attention, there are other contests held within the Tour: the
points classification for
sprinters, the
mountains classification
The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used.
While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest p ...
for
climbers, the Asian rider classification for Asian riders, the team classification for competing teams, and the Asian team classification for competing Asian teams.
History
The Tour de Langkawi was conceived by former Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir bin Mohamad to put Malaysia "on the world sporting and tourism map".
The first race was held in 1996. It was Asia's richest bicycle race
with total prize money of
RM1.1 million.
In 1997, the teams and from Italy and the team from France refused to participate in the second stage of the Tour as a protest against long delays in the delivery of their bicycles and luggage caused by insufficient numbers of cargo handlers at provincial airports in the states of
Sabah
Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...
and
Sarawak
Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...
. Organisers officially cancelled the second stage, though an unofficial shortened version was held.
Since then, the race has never re-visited Sabah or Sarawak, except for the 2020 edition.
The final stage of the race was cancelled twice due to heavy rain in 2003 and 2006.
During the first stage in 2004, police allowed vehicles onto the course by mistake. Riders mutually decided to neutralise the stage.
In 2008, the
Genting Highlands climb stage was replaced by
Fraser's Hill. Due to 150,000 visitors converging on the Genting Highlands resort area to celebrate Chinese New Year, officials would not be able to close roads along the race route to insure the safety of riders and the public. The Genting Highlands climb stage returned to the Tour in 2009.
Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, the 2021 race that was supposed to happen between January 30 to February 6 was cancelled after initial consideration of postponement to September in the same year. The event made its return in 2022, initially scheduled from March 3 to 10 but was then postponed twice, first to June 11 to 18, then again to October 11 to 18.
Past winners
General classification
Points classification
Mountains classification
Asian rider classification
Team classification
Asian team classification
References
External links
Tour de Langkawiat ''cyclingnews.com''
Tour de Langkawiat ''cyclingarchives.com''
at ''the-sports.org''
Tour de Langkawiat ''cqranking.com''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tour de Langkawi
Cycle races in Malaysia
UCI Asia Tour races
Recurring sporting events established in 1996
1996 establishments in Malaysia