KUALA LUMPUR: Jelajah Malaysia - the oldest bike race in the country - could make a comeback next year, albeit as a domestic race.
Malaysia National Cycling Federation (MNCF) secretary Arif Astaman said a race organiser has expressed interest in organising the event next year.
Jelajah Malaysia, which was previously a UCI 2.2 class international race, was last held in 2017.
"There is an organiser who has offered to run the race (next year), this is a different organiser from the one in 2023," said Arif yesterday (Dec 17).
"We have told them to do it as a domestic race first in the mould of Tour Gateh D'Tranung and Jelajah Negri Sembilan.
"We want them to prove themselves first (as an organiser) and get at least one edition done successfully locally. It is up to them to accept (these conditions) or not.
"Only then can we talk about returning the race to the UCI calendar."
A different organiser had announced plans to run the race last year. The event's dates, however, were postponed a number of times and would end up not being held at all.
"We do not want organisers to set their goals too high right from the start and end up not delivering," said Arif.
"The previous (2023) organiser's optimism was out of place. We have to evaluate organisers more carefully."
Arif said MNCF is pleased to see an increase in the number of domestic stage races being held in recent years.
"It is a positive trend and we support states which are willing to organise such events," said Arif.
"These kinds of races are important for our riders' development. There are some things you cannot teach riders, such as how to position yourself in a peloton with over 100 other riders.
"This is something you can only learn from experience."