LANGKAWI, 14 September 2022: Langkawi Island once more hosted cycling fans attending the Langkawi Legendary Ride 2022 Championship on 10 September. The event was last held in 2019.
The second edition of the annual LLR attracted 1,640 participants from seven countries, namely Singapore, Indonesia, the UK, Thailand, Australia, Netherlands and France, plus a strong turnout of local sports enthusiasts.
This event was jointly organised by the Langkawi Development Board (LADA) and Tough Gorilla Ventures. This year’s edition offered three categories; the Legendary Ride of 101 km, Eagle Ride (60km) and Mahsuri Ride (30km).
LADA is confident that hosting sports events will generate more tourists as participants often take their families on vacation when joining a sporting event at a resort destination. In addition, the destination gains considerable media coverage, including TV sports channels that build awareness. Langkawi was the founding host for the Tour de Langkawi, one of the most popular tours in the cycle race calendar outside of Europe. It provided heaps of publicity for Langkawi and Malaysia as a national event that attracted international race teams.
Le 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 considered Asia’s richest bicycle race, with total prize money of MYR1.1 million.
The eight-stage race visits major destinations in Malaysia but retains its connection with Langkawi to recognise its role as the founding destination.
However, the 26th edition of the stage race returns to Langkawi this year for the final stage. Scheduled for 11 to 18 October, the 1,183km race will start in Kuala Lumpur and conclude in Langkawi, according to updated information posted on Arena Malaysia Asia on 3 September.
“Supporting cycling sports events in Langkawi remains a priority,” said LADA CEO Nasaruddin bin Abdul Muttalib. “Due to the confidence cyclists have in Langkawi’s expertise in hosting prestigious sports events, we expect tourist arrivals to Permata Kedah to increase during the fourth quarter of 2022.”
LLR 2022 was also used by participants as a warm-up session ahead of the IRONMAN Malaysia triathlon championship scheduled for 5 November.
