31 July 2010 - Jitrah, Kedah - Kedah becomes the location to host the first ever series of the Malaysian National Cycling Grand Prix (Road Race) which will take place on July 31, at the Taman Tema Air Darul Aman, Bandar Darul Aman, Jitra, Kedah.
The 'one day race' concept is organized for the very first time by the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) which will see riders from every State as well as any licensed cyclists participate. The riders will be divided into four Categories, which are Men's Open, Men Under 18 Years and Men Under 14 years who needs to finish the race covering distances of 66km to 200km. For the Women's Open category, the riders must finish within the distance of 100km to 130km.
The flag-off ceremony will be attended by Kubang Pasu District Officer, Dato’ Hj Noh Bin Haji Dahya at 8:50 am. Kedah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak is expected to present the prizes to the winners.
Chairman of the MNCF Road Race Development Programme, Amrun Misnoh hopes that these races could tap into new talents in the road events; it is also an opportunity for the existing riders to develop their skills and establish themselves before any tournament.
"We have managed to improve the image of cycling with the success of Azizul Hasni Awang in track events and many National road riders have also advanced and began to compete for teams or clubs outside the country. "However, we have identified that road racing in the form of tours are not much help for our country to achieve the desired medals, especially in the international events organized by the ACC, UCI, Asian Games or Commonwealth Games.”
"Therefore, we hope that through the National Cycling GP, we can achieve the goals and aspirations of MNCF to discover new talent with the potential to be polished-up for the international arena," he said.
The National GP Road Race Championship is a ‘one day race’ event which will be held in five series involving five locations around the country; where the First will be in Kedah, Second in Johor, Third in Terengganu, fourth in Sarawak and the Grand Final (Fifth) in Selangor.
For the first four series, it is only open to national riders, while the final Series (Fifth) will be open to outside participants. For each series, the first 15 riders will get points and win cash prizes from RM100 to RM1,000. The overall winner of the Grand Prix will be known at the end of the series’ final race in Selangor. In addition, to qualify for the GP title, the winner must participate in at least two GP early stages and must participate in the last series, only then the rider will be declared as Overall Winner.
These series of circuit racing will serve as a platform for the riders to accumulate points throughout the year as well as identifying the best local riders. In addition, it can also be the training ground for the riders to prepare for before competing in international championships, such as the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.
Throughout the competition, MNCF will also be able to use this platform to identify the riders who will represent the country in Le Tour de Langkawi next year.
Besides witnessing the discovery of great talents of the cycling race, the visitor can also follow the side activities in the form of Cycling Carnival such as ‘fun rides’, exhibitions, clinics, motivational talks and others, educating them on the benefits of cycling.
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