Target podium finish in Arya Le Tour de Femina - MNCF

PETALING JAYA, Sept 4 -- The Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) wants the national women cyclists to aim for podium finish at the Arya Le Tour de Femina 2019, which will be held from Nov 16 to 21.

Its vice-president Datuk Amarjit Singh Gill believes in the capability of the national squad to showcase their best performance in the inaugural road cycling event for women in Malaysia.

“MNCF’s main mission is to ensure that our riders secure a podium finish. I think this is an important mission to show that Malaysia is capable of competing in the world-class event,” he told reporters after announcing the main sponsor for the event.

 Amarjit, however, confirmed that the MNCF has yet to name the country’s representatives in the full-fledged women stage race and is leaving the responsibility to the management and the national coach.

“The national women squad are always there and to name the athletes is not a problem. And, there is no problem in terms of preparation as all the riders have been involved in training,” he added.

Elaborating, Amarjit said the world-class event will be a good platform for the national athletes to gauge their level of achievement.

Earlier, the organising committee, Ciclista Sports Sdn Bhd, received a sponsorship of US$2.2 million (RM9.3 million) for the six-stage race from ARYA Premier Sdn Bhd.

The event will see the participation of professional and international women cycling teams from Europe, America, Oceania and Asia.

LTdF 2019 is being organised by Ciclista Sports in collaboration with the Youth and Sports Ministry and MNCF with the aim of empowering women in sports as well as making Malaysia as one of the major cycling hubs for women.

 The race was earlier slated for September but was changed to November in line with the sponsors' request to promote the Asian African Women’s Conference (AAWC), which is scheduled for March next year.

-- BERNAMA