KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 (NNN-Bernama):The Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) lost a prominent participant when Team Colombia decided to withdraw from the Tour that starts on Monday, due to problems in obtaining travel visa.

LTdL 2010 Chief Operating Officer Mohamed Salleh said the team faced difficulties and financial constraints to obtain visas because they would need to transit in Europe before arriving here.

“Though we are sad that they had to withdraw in the last minute, we will still have 20 teams competing because their place will be filled by Polygon Sweetnice from Indonesia,” he told reporters after accepting sponsorship pledge from Nestle Product Sdn Bhd (Nestle).

Nestle, the largest food and beverage company in the world, evolving as a world leader in nutrition, health and wellness, providing local sportsman Milo and Powerbar products, has been an integral part of the most prestigious cycling Tour in Asia, since its inception 15 years ago.

Apart from Nestle, LTdL also received petrol sponsorship to a tune of RM60,000 from Syarikat AZE & Groups Sdn Bhd.

The 15th edition of the Tour, jointly organised by the Youth and Sports Ministry and Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) under the auspicious of the world cycling body (UCI), is a Hors status race.

The Tour, comprising seven stages would start in Kota Baharu, Kelantan and end at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur and covers a distance of 1,013.9km.

-NNN-BERNAMA

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