KUALA LUMPUR: Two WorldTeam teams and eight ProTeam teams have been confirmed to add to the excitement of the 30th edition of the Tour de Langkawi 2026 (LTdL 2026) which is scheduled to start from September 27 to October 4.
National Sports Council (MSN) director-general Jefri Ngadirin said completing the 20-team list for this year’s competition were nine Continental teams and the Malaysian national team to face the eight-stage challenge of LTdL 2026 which covers a distance of 1,285.5 kilometres.
He however said that although the number of teams was reduced from 22 teams in the last edition, it still met the ProSeries status race quota set by the International Cycling Union (UCI).
“(The factor of lack) is the budget. As I mentioned earlier, we pay appearance fees with travel allowance for the team. If it’s the World Team, it has a higher rate. We have to save a little budget so we reduce (the amount for) the two teams.
“Next year we will reopen, God willing. We have plenty of time to find sponsors, get more funding and we will invite back more famous teams,” he told reporters during a press conference to announce the LTdL 2026 team at the National Sports Council, Bukit Jalil here, today.
The two WorldTeam teams that have confirmed their participation are XDS Astana from Kazakhstan and the Dutch team, Picnic PostNL.
While the eight ProTeam teams are Tudor Pro Cycling Team (Switzerland); Caja Rural-SegurosRGA, Kern Pharma and Burgos-Burpellet (Spain); TotalEnergies and Unibet Rose Rockets (France); BardianiCSF-Saier (Italy); and a new face, Modern Adventure Pro Cycling from the United States.
The nine continental teams consist of Terengganu Cycling Team and Malaysia Pro Cycling from Malaysia; Thailand Continental Cycling Team (Thailand); 7-Eleven Roadbike Philippines (Philippines); Nusantara Cycling Team (Indonesia); WheelTop Chengdu Cycling Team (China); Aisan Racing Team (Japan); KSPO (South Korea) and St George Continental Cycling Team (Australia).
Meanwhile, Jefri is confident that it will be top quality race this year with three difficult climbing stages in Gunung Jerai, Cameron Highlands and Genting Highlands.
“The Astana, Picnic and Tudor teams are participating in all three of the world’s biggest tours (Grand Tours), namely the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana; as are TotalEnergies and Caja Rural. Bardiani and Unibet are also racing in the Giro while Kern Pharma and Burgos are also competing in the Vuelta.
“So the nine teams that have confirmed their participation this time are notable cyclists in the world’s high-class racing scene and I am sure they will send a strong combination of riders to ensure victory,” he said.
Jefri also said that MSN as the organiser of the LTdL is excited to see the list of riders that will be sent by the teams because the route this year is considered to be difficult and challenging throughout its history since 1996.
“Some teams have already sent their riders but we are confident that they will change it at the last minute and list the best line-up because the best results mean that they also collect important points for their ranking, especially in the races at the end of the season,” he said.
The tour, which has 2nd ProSeries status in the Asia-UCI calendar, is jointly organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) through MSN in collaboration with the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF).
– Bernama
