BUKIT JALIL: Italian tyre brand Vittoria will debut as nuetral service providers at the 19th edition of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) scheduled to take place from February 27 to March 8. 

Bringing it's proud record as providers of the race services at the Giro d'Italia to LTdL for the first time, Vittoria's Group ICT and commercial director Willem Campagne said the company will also be launching a new cycling innovation at LTdL, becoming the first company to ever do so. "We have selected the prestigious Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia to introduce our latest innovation to our successful Servizio Corse program.

We will be launching Servizio Corse Digital at the Tour de Langkawi 2014. Servizio Corse Digital is a multi media platform for every and anyone to participate in, without cost to them, wherever they are, and to engage with each other on an open digital platform dedicated to cycling. We will announce more details in the next few weeks as we are finalizing local implementation as we speak," said Mr. Campagne.

"Vittoria has been running Servizio Corse (Italian for Race Services) for the world famous Giro d’Italia for a few years now and with great success. For us, the definition of success in this field means that, next to the marketing and branding benefits, is that we are visibly acting upon our internal philosophy of truly caring for our customers and riders, by helping them when they have technical trouble whilst delivering their top performances during the toughest races on earth.

LTdL chief operating officer Emir Abdul Jalal welcomed Vittoria on board, stating that having a famous tyre brand choosing LTdL as a platform to not only promote its brand, but to also launch new technology adds even more prestige to the race. "We can't help but feel honoured with this association. As you know, Vittoria is a big name in cycling, one of the most popular tyre brands in this sport," said Emir.

Also present in the sponsorship ceremony were Deputy Chairman of Organizing Committee Dato' Hj Ab Jalil Abdullah, Malaysian National Cycling Federation president Datuk Hj Abu Samah Hj Abdul Wahab, state officials and tour sponsors.

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.

Le Tour de Langkawi 2014 RACE ROUTE

Stage 1 - Thursday 27^th February 2014 : Langkawi (101.1km)

Stage 2 - Friday 28^th February 2014 :Sungai Petani-Taiping (132.5km)

Stage 3 - Saturday 1^stMarch2014 : Kampar -Kuala Lumpur (166.5km)

Stage 4 - Sunday 2^nd March 2014 :MAS Subang-Genting Highlands (110.9km)

Stage 5 - Monday 3^rd March 2014 :Karak-Rembau (139.9km)

Stage 6 - Tuesday 4^th March 2014 :Melaka-Pontian Kechil (199.1km)

Stage 7 - Wednesday 5^th March 2014 :Kota Tinggi-Pekan (230.1km)

Stage 8 - Thursday 6^th March 2014 :Kuantan-Marang (202.6km)

Stage 9 - Friday 7^th March 2014 :Bandar Permaisuri-Kuala Terengganu (111.1km)

Stage 10 - Saturday 8^th March 2014 :TasikKenyir-Kuala Terenganu Loop (114.7km)