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Le Tour De Langkawi 2006 kicked off today (3rd February 2006). This world class cycling event atrracts riders from around the world. The 11th installment of this annual event sees participation from 120 professional cyclists forming 20 cycling teams of six riders each. The riders of each team need not be from the same nationality as this is not (exclusively) a competition between countries.

This year, Malaysia’s team is managed by Yunus Ibrahim and consists of riders Shahrulneeza Razzali, Ali Ahmad Fallani, Fuazan Ahmad Lutfi, Suhardi Hassan, Jasmin Roslan, and Syuti Zahid. With competition coming from some of the strongest riders in the world, team Malaysia has its work cut out for them.

As always, the riders will be tested in a grueling 10 stage race over 10 days, covering a total distance of 1155.4 kilometres of mountain tracks, speedways, and timetrials all across Malaysia. Each stage holds its own unique challenges to test the riders’ physical and mental conditioning. In additional to the individual stage winners and overall race, there are a number of different categories that the riders compete in, including Mountains, Points Competition, Asian Riders, General Teams, and Asian Teams.

The results are already in for the first stage. The coveted Yellow Jersey went to Maximiliano Richeze of team Ceramica Panaria-Navigare. In the Asian riders category, Jasmin R. of Malaysia placed third 7′30″ behind Takashi Miyazawa of Japan and Wawan Setyo Budi of Wismilak.

In the days leading up to race day, Le Tour De Langkawi Cavalcade could be seen parading through the Klang Valley. We caught sight of them parked along Jalan Ampang at Ampang Point.

For more information on the race, its schedules, and daily results, point your browsers to Le Tour De Langkawi’s official website.