KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 — The Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) 2023 race, which ended yesterday, proved the mettle of the National Sports Council (NSC) as a reliable organiser in ensuring the prestigious Asian cycling tour race is in a class of its own.
When various obstacles presented themselves, including the lack of WorldTeam outfits participating, the close cooperation of all parties, especially the 22 competing teams and the hardworking logistics team working at each location, ensured the race was exciting and well run.
Both from a promotional point of view, the coverage of the ‘live’ broadcast and the competition of the eight-stage race covering a distance of 1,278.1 kilometres was undeniably handled professionally by the organisers.
The matter was acknowledged by the chief operating officer of LTdL 2023, Emir Abdul Jalal, who said that everything went according to plan, starting from the team introduction session until the last stage of the competition yesterday.
“The excitement was incredible, and when we entered the first to the eighth stage, we saw that the race as a whole went very smoothly, with only minor accidents and some minor hiccups.
“I also can see that we have a television broadcast this year which gained praise from Eurosport (an international paid sports television network). There are no issues at all, and the standard is much better with graphics comparable to the Vuelta Espana and Tour de France races,” he said.
It was the gem of an idea to introduce the use of body cameras in the cars of the competing teams, making the LTdL competition more appealing and attracting the interest of the audience who could watch closely in real-time to follow the 27th edition of the race on social media.
“It meant that the level of our broadcasting was also elaborate. Similarly, from the point of social media, including Facebook, I expect TikTok was able to garner more than 30 to 40 million likes and views this year,” said Emir.
The addition of several WorldTeam outfits from Europe next year is also expected to add to the excitement of the LTdL, thus increasing its status in line with the world’s leading cycling races, such as the Vuelta a Espana, Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.
“Next year, we have a relatively long period to start preparations, with the improvement of the department handling sponsors, so I feel that next year we have sponsorships that will be bigger.
“If the sponsorship is bigger, we can improve its organisation; for example, WorldTeam participation can be increased to four or five teams, and then we can get better rider quality,” he said.
— Bernama
