Kumaresan: We will not compromise with troublemakers

Sports Sdn Bhd, the organiser of Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL), will not tolerate any rider who commits serious offences, which include assaulting riders.

LTdL’s chief operations officer, M. Kumaresan sounded out a warning to the riders and teams that they can be disqualified from the race if the race commissar finds any of them guilty of committing offences that tarnish LTdL’s image.

Kumaresan hopes all the riders and their teams competing in LTdL will take note of the case involving the Giant Cycling Team rider from China, Chen Zhiwen who was disqualified by the commissar after being found guilty of violent behaviour and assaulting a rider on Tuesday after the end of the third stage from Kota Baru to Kuala Terengganu.

“As the organiser of LTdL, we will not take sides with any rider even if they are Malaysians.

“In fact we will allow the commissar to evaluate and assess the situation in order to make an informed decision, such as the one made to disqualify rider No 111 (Chen Zhiwen) from the race and fine him as well.

“Apart from this, the commissar also made the decision to fine Hariff Salleh even though he was the victim and only acted in selfdefence.

“For me the commissar’s decision was not only spot on, but it also showed firmness and impartiality,” he said yesterday.

Kumaresan said he is confident that the incident will not affect or tarnish LTdL’s image.

Meanwhile, Astana Pro Team rider Riccardo Minali notched his second win in the race when he won yesterday’s fourth stage from Dungun, Terengganu to Pekan, Pahang covering a distance of 183km in 4 hours 10m:14s.

Fellow Italian rider Andrea Guardini of team Bardiani CSF came in second while Terengganu Cycling Team’s (TSG) Mohd Hariff Salleh was third overall out of the 121 competing riders.