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Thursday March 26, 2009

Bridgestone’s entry adds prestige to Jelajah

PETALING JAYA: The nation’s oldest cycling race, the Jelajah (Tour of) Malaysia, broke new ground by allowing an additional team to join the fray for this year’s event from April 19-26.

The event’s executive chairman, Datuk Astaman Abdul Aziz, said yesterday that Bridgestone Anchor of Japan had agreed to bear their own travel costs and pay a token late registration fee and their inclusion would make a 21-team start list.

The presence of the team, featuring seasoned riders like Makoto Iijima, Masamichi Yamanoto, Masaru Fukuhara, Sho Aikawa, Shinpei Fukuda and Yoshiaki Shimada, gave the Tour an added prestige.

“As organisers, we were quite flattered by the insistence of Bridgestone Anchor to participate in the Jelajah Malaysia. This is by far the most competitive field we have had.” said Astaman.

The Tour, over a total distance of 1,240km, will now have 14 UCI Continental teams besides three national and four club sides. The first stage is expected to be from Kuala Selangor to Ipoh.

The teams

Continental: MNCF (Mas), LeTua (Mas), Jelly Belly (Usa), Azad University (Iri), Savings & Loan (Aus), Shimano Racing (Jpn), Polygon Sweetnice (Ina), Tabriz Petrochemical (Iri), Aisan Racing (Jpn), Ride Sport Racing (Aus), Giant Asia (Tpe), Bridgestone Anchor (Jpn), Trek Marco Polo (Chn), Doha (Qat).

National: Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand.

Clubs: Terengganu Toshiba-Bike Labz (Mas), Armed Forces (Mas), Tinelli Colossi (Nzl), JazySports Beacon (Phi).

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