The L’Etape du Tour is an organised mass participation cyclosportive event that allows amateur cyclists to race over the same route as a Tour de France stage. The L’Etape by Tour de France is now held in over 23 countries, drawing in the participation of more than 50,000 cycling fans all over the world. After a 2-year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic, the first L’Etape Malaysia was held in 2022 in Desaru, Johor. We enrolled to participate in the L’Etape Melaka on 5 May, expecting the usual hordes of riders similar to our experience at the 2022 Desaru event. True enough, this time the event drew in over 4,000 riders competing in the Specialized Elite Wave, the 140km and the 70km categories. All bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and fitted out with the official L’Etape race jerseys and kit, we started queuing up with our bikes readily chipped with our respective race bib numbers at the start point from dawn break at The Sail in Klebang, Melaka.
We were promptly flagged off at 7.45am for the 70km category in which we were enrolled. Those competitive and “kiasu” riders zoomed past us wasting no time at all in wanting to clock in and better their race times, whereas we really just planned to enjoy the scenery and ride in traffic-free conditions! Initially, the weather was kind to us from the moment of wheels-up but 10 minutes into the ride, the sky opened up and completely washed us out! Regardless of the rain, we hunkered down and continued, peering through our hazy cycling visors. Fortunately, the rain eased up 20 minutes later but leaving us to deal with our sloshy shoes, socks and drenched attire. The terrain was quite flat (at first) passing through rural villages like Kampung Portugis, Kampung Jawa and Kampung Seri Minyak. This was then followed by rolling hills passing Merlimau as we cycled past farms and palm oil estates heading inland into the suburbs of Melaka. The views were really lovely, reminding us of the scenery when cycling in the European countryside.
At the 42nd km mark, there was a refueling stop provided by the organisers, where we thankfully refilled our water bidons and gobbled up bananas and bread that were supplied, to tide us through the remaining 28 km of the route. All in all, most of our ride was done in pleasant overcast conditions (save for the rain outbreak earlier). There were a few ambulances and medical support on standby to provide support for emergencies, and police traffic control to prioritise riders over vehicles, at every turn and junction of the route. As is customary, there were also the dreaded sweeper trucks plying the route to save those who experienced tyre punctures or various other bike problems or were too exhausted to continue or to “sweep” you up with your bikes if there was no likelihood that you would make it to the finishing line by the cut-off time of 4 hours.
We always enjoy these well-organised L’Etape events, as the international Tour De France team is highly professional and thoughtful in their planning as to what riders really want and need in their competitive cycling experience. We hope they continue to plan these events in Malaysia and we look forward to the 2025 Malaysian L’Etape event at the next exciting location.
