Mountain biking: Mission accomplished

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (left) and Human Voyage CEO Datuk Malik Mydin chat with BMC Racing and Sky Team riders after the Jamboree event on Sunday. — Bernama picture

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A BIGGER and better second edition of the Langkawi International Mountain Bike Challenge (LIMBC) has put Langkawi firmly on the road to being a world-class destination for the sport.The LIMBC, which has grown from two stages in the inaugural meet to five this year, attracted a much stronger field featuring four top 10 riders and despite the hot and humid conditions, managed to draw world praise from all competitors.

The race, which saw German World No 9 Karl Platt and Switzerland's World No 8 Nathalie Schneitter win the men's and women's overall titles respectively, was also intended by the organiser, Human Voyage Sdn Berhad, to be a much more serious event this year.

Entry to the race was limited to those holding valid UCI licences to ensure the competition met certain standards in an effort to help boost their hopes of hosting the 2013 International Cycling Union (UCI) World Cup and the 2015 World Championships.
Human Voyage chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Malik Mydin, whose company is preparing to bid for the two races, said he was confident Langkawi would be able to land the rights to host the two world-class cycling events.

"I am very happy that we have been able to meet all the targets we had set out to do this year," said Mydin.

"We wanted to have a more competitive event as we want the LIMBC to be known as a serious race with prestige in years to come and am glad that we are definitely making progress towards achieving that goal.

"At the moment we have not received the official (post race) report from UCI but the overall feedback from the riders has been very positive and I am confident we will be the first Asian country to host both the events as UCI is also keen to take the events out of Europe," added Abdul Malik.

World class road cyclists Chris Froome and Adam Blythe, who were invited as guest riders to the LIMBC, were also in full support of bringing the races to the mystical island.

"Langkawi has some of the best single-track courses in the world and with great infrastructure and organisation there is no reason why the World Cup and World Championships should not be brought here," said Froome, who achieved a surprise overall second place at the Vuelta a Espana last August.

Abdul Malik said he was looking to attract more spectators to the event next year but was not going to take the easy route to achieving that.

"We are looking to attract people who are fans of the sport and independently generate more income for the local tourism industry when things are slower on the island and have the race bring a more significant economical impact," he said.

"We also hope to make the island a destination for mountain bikers to come and train here as Langkawi has much to offer the riders but that is not our priority for the moment as we want to focus more on racing for the time being."