Arya Premier, a Malaysia-based events and business development company, has signed up as title sponsor of Le Tour de Femina, a UCI-sanctioned women’s cycle race taking place from November 16 to 21 in Malaysia.
The race, organised by cycling event company Ciclista Sports in collaboration with the Malaysian Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Malaysian National Cycling Federation, will receive RM9.24m ($2.2m) from Arya Premier, according to the New Straits Times.
The race has been renamed the Arya Le Tour de Femina. Arya branding will also appear on the race leader’s pink jersey and on the white jersey earmarked for the best Asian cyclist.
Ciclista chief executive Seeni Mohamad said teams from Australia, China, Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand and a number of African nations have confirmed their participation in the Le Tour de Femina.
During the race launch at Subang in Malaysia, Arya Premier chief executive Zarina Mohd Nor said: “This (race) is something that we have been considering for a long time, over the past few years actually.
“We dare to take this risk because we are confident that this event will be a success and will help raise the profile of women’s cycling. If possible, we want to develop this race to become like Tour de Langkawi in the future.”
The Tour de Langkawi is a major UCI-sanctioned men’s cycle race in Malaysia. It was previously managed by Ciclista Sports, but has been taken over by new organiser Human Voyage.