KUALA LUMPUR – Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has assured the future of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) road cycling race, saying that it successfully secured a significant amount of funding for the next two years.
It is understood that LTdL has received a total of RM31.6 million in funding for 2024 and 2025.
In a written reply to a question from Langkawi MP Datuk Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah, Hannah detailed the steps that the ministry has taken to guarantee the future of the race funding-wise.
“The cabinet has approved RM8 million per year for 2023 until 2025.
“The National Sports Council (NSC) has also been able to secure RM7.8 million in sponsorship in cash and value in kind from various corporate and government sources.”
The LTdL sponsors for the next two years include Petronas (RM5 million), special allocations from the Finance Ministry (RM1 million), Tourism Malaysia (RM1 million), and the Terengganu state government (RM800,000).
Aside from funding, Hannah revealed that the ministry, through the NSC, has taken steps to ensure the smooth organisation of the race.
“The NSC was appointed as the organisers for the next three years (starting in 2023) – and before this year’s edition even started, all appearance fees for international teams were paid in full.
“Debts owed as detailed by the International Cycling Union (UCI) and the Malaysia National Cycling Federation have also been settled.
“In addition, planning in terms of the race route and sponsorship package for LTdL 2024 has been set in motion to ensure that the organisation of the next edition receives sufficient sponsorship to ensure that this tournament can be organised smoothly,” read the reply.
Earlier this year, the 27th edition of the LTdL was removed from the UCI international race calendar.
It is believed the reason for the omission is due to debts owed to participating teams by the previous organisers of the race.
However, the debts have been cleared enabling the race to be put back on the calendar. It ran successfully from September 23 to 30. – October 10, 2023