60 ORANG ANAK YATIM DIRAI DALAM MAJLIS BERBUKA PUASA MULIA GROUP

KUALA LUMPUR, 19 Julai 2014 - Mengambil barakah atau keberkatan bulan Ramadhan yang mulia, Mulia Interlink Construction Sdn Bhd firma dalam bidang pengkhususan kejuruteraan awam dan pembinaan serta perlombongan, hari ini memberi layanan istimewa kepada 60 orang anak yatim di dalam Majlis Berbuka Puasa di Hotel Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur. Seramai 200 tetamu turut hadir pada majlis itu yang bermula pada bermula pada pada 6 petang dan berakhir pada 9 malam.

Majlis berbuka puasa tersebut yang dihadiri Yang Amat Mulia Tengku Temenggong Tengku Arif Sultan Ahmad Shah, Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Mulia Group, turut dimeriahkan dengan kehadiran tetamu khas, Duli Yang Maha Mulia Sultan Pahang Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah dan diiringi Duli Yang Maha Mulia Sultanah Pahang Sultanah Hajah Kalsom. Turut hadir ialah Menteri Besar Pahang Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob, ahli lembaga Mulia Group serta wakil media.

POURSEYEDIGOLAKHOUR CREATES HISTORY

Guardini takes the final stage at Dataran Shahbandar

The winners of LTdL 2014

Mirsamad kisses his precious LTdL'14 Challenge Trophy

KUALA TERENGGANU, Saturday 8th March 2014 - Tabriz Petrochemical Team's Mirsamad Pourseyedigolakhourwas today confirmed as Asia's first ever overall winner of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) after the finals stage won by Astana's Andrea Guardini to bring his record of stage wins in the race to 14.

Pourseyedigolakhour celebrated the victory after some hard work by his team to keep his slim 8 seconds lead over second placed Merhawi Kudus of MTN-Qhubeka in the six stages that followed the queen stage of the race in Genting Highlands on the fourth stage.

"I am especially proud to be the first Asian rider to win the overall title in this race. After 19 years it has happened, so this is a big victory for me and for Asian cycling," said Pourseyedigolakhour, who also became the first Asian to win the Genting Highlands stage in LTdL.

"After the fourth stage in Genting, my team had to work really hard to protect the lead, especially in some very long stages that followed. So, I have to thank them."

Lithuania's Aidis Kroupis of the Orica-GreenEDGE team bagged the points classification win after finishing second to Guardini in the bunch sprint at Dataran Shahbandar in Kuala Terengganu to end the race.

Guardini registered his second victory of this year's race, which was also his Astana team's second of the season, to add to his victory in Stage Three from Kampar to Kuala Lumpur and extended his record on a day when four stage winner Theo Bos of Belkin Pro Cycling only strolled home in 58th position, not contesting the bunch sprint.

"This year I would have liked to get more wins, but most of the stages didn't suit my sprints. For me, I prefer to have a long straight to start my sprint at 200 or 250 metres, but this year a lot of stages had a turn at 100 or 50 metres before the finish," said Guardini.

"So those kind of stages suited Bos, who also had a strong team to put him in good positions. Today, when I had a chance in a sprint that suited me, I am happy to have delivered the win.

Irish champion Matt Brammeier of the Synergy-Baku team had already confirmed his mountains classification win after Stage 9 yesterday and was satisfied with the overall performance of the team from Azerbaijan, who made an impact with their continues attacks and with Brammeier's jersey victory.

Another team which made a big impact was South Africa's MTN-Qhubeka, who not only finished as overall team champions ahead of Tabriz Petrochemical, but also introduced the surprise package of the race in 20-year old Eritrean rider Merhawi Kudus,who finished second overall just eight seconds behind Pourseyedigolakhour.

Organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, via the National Sports Council (NSC) inassociation with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF). The 19th edition of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) from February 27 to March 8, 2014 covers a total distance of 1,495.9km over 10 stages, the UCI 2.HC (hors category) race featuring again as one of the biggest events on the UCI Asia Tour calendar.

* for more LTdL 2014 releases, please go to https://www.facebook.com/pulse.mediacommunications/notes

GRAEME BROWN TO BACK THEO BOS AGAIN IN BELKIN’S TOP TRAIN

Greame Brown, the perfect lead-out man

Theo Bos, back for more wins

BUKIT JALIL, 6 February 2014 - After completing the 2013 season with thirteen wins including two at Le Tour de Langkawi, Theo Bos will be back in Malaysia at the helm of the Belkin team that accumulated 38 successes, making the Dutch outfit the second most prolific squad of last year after Omega Pharma-Quick Step.

As he became sick after stage 4, Bos pulled out of his first LTdL but following his six bunch sprint victories at the Tour of Hainan in China in October, he’s hungry for more success in Asia, as his lead out man Graeme Brown explained. The Australian was once the record holder of stage wins at Le Tour de Langkawi, until Andrea Guardini who now has twelve under his belt overtook him in 2012.

“I’ve won nine stages when I came to Malaysia as a sprinter [from 2002 to 2005] but now I work for Theo Bos”, the Australian said.

“I really like the race itself. These days many organizers tend to make the races too hard and from what I understand there are nine stages for sprinters out of ten at Le Tour de Langkawi this year. It’s kind of a heritage. It’s always been a lot of sprint stages and it still is. I think it’s great to see. Nine is a lot but we go with a great team for that so it’s perfect.”

“Langkawi is great! It’s very relaxed. It’s a very serious race of course but in a very relaxed atmosphere. Malaysian fans are great and really in to it. I had a lot of success there, so people know my name and remember me winning many times. It’s really nice. It’s a good race with good weather, a little bit humid but on nice roads.”

Brown is adamant that he won’t try to get his record back. “I really enjoy my job as a lead out man”, he stated. “I don’t have the speed I had when I was young. It wouldn’t make sense that I’d race as a sprinter now because Theo always beat me when I sprinted against him. To me it’s logic. I feel less pressure but I still have some pressure. If I don’t put Theo in the right spot, he can’t win the race. He always relies on what I do in the last kilometer. It’s great when he wins of course.”

“You have to remember that only a few years ago he was a track sprinter. It takes some time. He was racing 200 metres and now he’s racing 200 kilometres. He beat the world’s best sprinters [Marcel Kittel and Mark Cavendish] two weeks before the Tour de France last year. Definitely in the Asian races he’s really good. He has the Tour of Qatar to get ready for Le Tour de Langkawi. I really pushed Theo to do this race. He wanted to do Paris-Nice, I said look let’s do Langkawi, let’s try to win some races, it’s a great race with good weather. Hopefully he doesn’t get sick this year.” Brown added.

“It’s very exciting to see Brown and Bos coming back to Malaysia”, chief operating officer of Le Tour de Langkawi Emir Abdul Jalal commented. “Belkin also entered Steven Kruijswijk for riding GC and Jack Bobridge as part of the lead out train with Rick Flens and Dennis van Winden who are the experts in paving the way for Brown and Bos. Bobridge is another cycling super star.”

“In Malaysia we are also very keen on watching track cycling, so to have the world record holder for the individual pursuit (4km) is a great honor for us.” Emir added.

BELKIN PRO CUCLING TEAM FOR THE 2014 LE TOUR DE LANGKAWI:

Theo BOS (NED), Greame BROWN (AUS), Rik FLENS (NED), Jack BOBRIDGE (AUS), Steven KRUIJSWIJK (NED) and Dennis VAN WINDEN (NED).

Organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, via the National Sports Council (NSC) in association with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF). The 19th edition of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) from February 27 to March 8, 2014 is set to cover a total distance of 1,507.9km over 10 stages, the UCI 2.HC (hors category) race featuring again as one of the biggest events on the UCI Asia Tour calendar.

TM CONTINUES SUPPORT FOR MALAYSIAN CYCLISTS

L-R : Emir Abdul Jalal (Chief Operating Officer, Le Tour De Langkawi), Dato’ Hj Abdul Jalil Abdullah (National Sports Council Director of Sports), Dato’ Rozalila Abdul Rahman (Chief Marketing Officer, TM) and Datuk Zaini Maatan (Vice President, TM Selangor).

BUKITJALIL, 4 February 2014 - National telecommunications giant Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) continuesits association with Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) 2014 with a focus onbringing the best out of local talents.

TMwill again this year provide incentives for the best Malaysian riders in the 19thedition of the race, which will be flagged off in Langkawi on February 27and ends on March 2 in Kuala Terengganu.

Presentat the announcement of TM’s involvement in this year’s LTdL was Dato’ RozalilaAbdul Rahman, Chief Marketing Officer, TM, together with Dato’ Hj Abdul Jalil Abdullah, National Sports Council Director ofSports and Emir Abdul Jalal,Chief Operating Officer, Le Tour De Langkawi.

“TMis proud to bring the three (3) awards again this year to recognise the bestamongst our Malaysian riders. This portrays our continued commitment towardsthe development of our local athletes, specifically in cycling, and we hopethat all Malaysian riders participating in LTdL 2014 will give their best toget their hands on the awards while maintaining healthy competition spirit andsportsmanship.”

“Inaddition to the awards, TM is also once again participating as the OfficialTelecommunications Provider for the race and we will be equipping theSecretariat and Media Centre at each stage with telecommunication facilities – fixedline telephones, fax, as well as Internet access, both wired and wireless,”added Dato’ Rozalila.

Whilethe 11 Malaysians competing in this year's race will also be eager to challengefor the overall, points, mountains and Asian riders' classifications, TMwill add spice to the challenge by offering again awards for the bestMalaysian rider overall, sprinter and best climber.

Theawards - TM Best Malaysian Sprinter (Raja Pecut), TM Best Malaysian Climber(Raja Bukit) and TM Overall Malaysian Champion - will again carry a totalprize package of RM10,000.

AdiqHusainie Othman, who emerged the best Malaysian rider in the overall standingslast year while riding for the Champion System Pro Cycling Team, returnsthis year with the Terengganu Cycling Team, while the battle for the topsprinter is also set to be contested by the Terengganu Cycling Team pair ofHarrif Saleh and last year's winner Anuar Manan.

Harrifsaid this award provides Malaysian riders an extra incentive to look forward towhile still targeting overall contests.

"Forme, I've been fired up for this race since we began preparation for the newseason. I am really determined to win a stage this time around. It will bean exciting battle with Anuar to emerge the Best Malaysian sprinter, butyou can't discount the other riders as well," said Harrif, 25.

LohSea Keong, who emerged the Best Malaysian Climber last year, will not be aroundthis time as he will be beginning his season with Dutch UCI Pro TeamGiant-Shimano.

Thebattle for the best climber will thus be expected to be between Adiq Husainie,another of his teammates Saufi Mat Senan and the Malaysian national team'spair of Mohd Fauzan Ahmad Lutfi and Nik Mohd Azwan Zulkifle.

LTdLchief operating officer Emir Abdul Jalal said TM's incentives are expected todrive the local riders to perform better and not just outdo themselves,but move them up in the overall competition as well.

"Youcan say that it is a battle between the Malaysians, but I think this could bewhat is needed to raise the performances of the local riders. Whilebattling among themselves, I hope the competitiveness will push them toall perform better in the overall standings," said Emir.

Organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, viathe National Sports Council (NSC) in association with the Malaysian NationalCycling Federation (MNCF). The 19th edition of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) fromFebruary 27 to March 8, 2014 is set to cover a total distance of 1,507.9km over 10 stages, the UCI 2.HC (horscategory) race featuring again as one of the biggest events on the UCI AsiaTour calendar.

ORICA-GREENEDGE BACKS 2013 RUNNER UP PIETER WEENING

Aidis Kroupis

Brett Lancaster

Pieter Weening climbing Genting Highlands in 2013

BUKIT JALIL, 29 January 2014 - While the 2013 overall winner JulianArredondo from Colombia has moved on to Trek Factory Racing and confirmed histalent by winning stage 2 of the Tour de San Luis that opened the 2014 seasonon the America Tour, runner up Peter Weening will make his return to Le Tour deLangkawi will the clear intention of stepping up to the top position when therace will come to a conclusion in Kuala Terengganu on March 8 after a ten dayjourney from the Paradisiacal island of Langkawi.

The last Dutchman to have won a stage at the Tour deFrance (in 2005) and is also a former pink jersey wearer at the Giro d’Italia(in 2011) and last year’s overall winner of World Tour race Tour of Poland hasfallen in love with Malaysia and asked the management of his Australian team Orica-GreenEdgeto include him again in their line-up for LTdL. “After finishing second lastyear, Peter wants to go one step higher”, explained team manager Shayne Bannanwho has been a long-time supporter of the Asian H.C. race since he directed theAustralian Institute of Sport on these roads in 1998.

Orica-GreenEdge also features Colombian super climberEsteban Chavez who won the Tour de l’Avenir in 2011 following the path of hiscompatriot Nairo Quintana. But his capacities to perform remain unknown as hesustained a terrible crash at the Laigueglia Trophy in Italy in February lastyear and hasn’t raced again since.

“Weening is definitely our GC contender”, Bannancontinued. “He really enjoyed Le Tour de Langkawi last year. His pre-season isgoing a lot better than what it was last year. Chavez will support him up toGenting Highlands and he’ll use this race to build his confidence for thefuture.”

Orica-GreenEdge will also take a sprinter on board asthey see “a lot of opportunities for [Lithuania’s] Aidis Kruopis” who will havethe crème de la crème as a lead out man with Brett Lancaster who won stage 3from Tapah to Raub ten years ago and escorted Graeme Brown on his numerousMalaysian successes.

The Australian outfit will also have two timetriallists to close the gaps and prepare for bunch sprints with U23 worldchampion Damian Howson and Sam Bewley. “In Malaysia, we always enjoy the goodweather and the excellent level of organization”, Bannan mentioned. “It’s afantastic event to prepare for the rest of the season.”

“This is a super team”, noted LTdL chief operatingofficer Emir Abdul Jalal. “We couldn’t hope for a better support fromAustralia’s only World Tour team. In their second participation, we can be surethat they have all it takes to handle the pressure of being hot favorites forthe race.”

ORICA-GREENEDGEFOR THE 2014 LE TOUR DE LANGKAWI:

BEWLEY Sam (NZL), CHAVES RUBIO Jhoan Esteban(COL), KRUOPIS Aidis (LTU), LANCASTER Brett (AUS), WEENING Pieter (NED), HOWSON Damien (AUS)

Organisedby the Ministry of Youth and Sports, via the National Sports Council (NSC) inassociation with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF). The 19thedition of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) from February 27 to March 8, 2014 is setto cover a total distance of 1,507.9kmover 10stages, the UCI 2.HC (hors category) race featuring again as one of the biggestevents on the UCI Asia Tour calendar.

EUROPCAR BACK IN ACTION WITH WORLD TOUR STATUS

Europcar is back as World Tour team

BUKIT JALIL, 15 January 2014 - Being the only squad upgraded from the Pro Continental ranks to the World Tour in 2014, French team Europcar will be under pressure to perform at Le Tour de Langkawi from February 27 to March 8.

After winning two stages with sprinter ace Bryan Coquard last year, they’ll have a different target with African super climber Natnael Berhane this time around. “Natnael came to fame when he won a mountainous stage at the Tour of Turkey last year”, directeur sportif Andy Flickinger noted from a race his Eritrean protégé eventually won after the disqualification of the overall winner. “Le Tour de Langkawi suits him very well to step up in his cycling career. Clearly, his goal will be to ride GC.”

While South Americans are often under the spotlight climbing up to Genting Highlands, they might be challenged this year by an African who is one of the biggest prospects of cycling worldwide, having developed through the World Cycling Centre of the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) like Tour de France winner Chris Froome and more recently Malaysia’s Sofian Nabil Omar Bakri.

“But we don’t neglect the other important part of Le Tour de Langkawi, which is sprinting”, Flickinger added. “We’ll bring our recruit Yannick Martinez who is a young sprinter who can also climb decently. Therefore, the course of LTdL is perfect for him. He hasn’t raced for ten days in a row yet, so this will be good for him to try and win stages as well as improving for the future.”

Martinez is poised to become the lead out man for Coquard at the Tour de France.

“It’s a great pleasure for us to welcome Europcar back in Malaysia”, LTdL chief operating officer Emir Abdul Jalal said as he received the entry form from the headquarters of the French team in Vendée. “They’re a Pro Team this year, which is a well deserved reward for the great job they’ve done in recent years with Thomas Voeckler and Pierre Rolland who have both raced in Malaysia on several occasions.”

“But moreover, this team has been in our heart as Malaysian cycling fans because we don’t forget their participation in the first ever Le Tour de Langkawi back in 1996. They’ve been faithful to our race organization as much as they could since then.”

Still an amateur team named Vendée U in 1996, the squad managed by former Tour de France star Jean-René Bernaudeau returned to Malaysia as a professional outfit called Bonjour and won their first pro race in Sitiawan with Damien Nazon in 2000. Under the appellation of Bouygues Telecom, they’ve also claimed stage victories with Matthieu Sprick and Yohan Gène in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

EUROPCAR FOR THE 2014 LE TOUR DE LANGKAWI:

Natnael BERHANE (Eri), Antoine DUCHESNE (Can), Romain GUILLEMOIS (Fra), Christophe KERN (Fra), Morgan LAMOISSON (Fra), Yannick MARTINEZ (Fra).

Organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, via the National Sports Council (NSC) in association with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF). The 19th edition of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) from February 27 to March 8, 2014 is set to cover a total distance of 1,507.9km over 10 stages, the UCI 2.HC (hors category) race featuring again as one of the biggest events on the UCI Asia Tour calendar.