BEOL bringing Tour de Bangladesh
Bangladesh Edible Oil Ltd (BEOL) yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with Bangladesh Cycling Federation (BCF) to hold an annual individual time-trial cycling race styled after world-renowned Tour de France, for four years starting in the middle of November this year.
As per the initial agreement, the first edition of the race titled Fortune Tour de Bangladesh, will be held over a track of approximately 495 kilometres starting from Bogra and finishing in Chittagong with Tangail, Dhaka and Feni being the connecting points. Around 40 cyclists, selected from five service teams, districts and clubs will participate in the first edition of this event.
The BEOL high-ups and officials of BCF disclosed the details of the proposed race during the MoU signing at a city hotel yesterday evening. The BCF officials were also handed a cheque of Tk 39 lakh for holding the first edition of the race.
Inam Ahmed, general manager of BEOL and Imtiaz Khan, general secretary of BCF signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organisations. Shoeb Md. Asaduzzaman, head of sales and marketing of BEOL, displayed a PowerPoint presentation detailing the plans for the event during the programme.
“This is a very challenging venture as it involves a lot of logistical issues including security and traffic management. But we are ready to take this challenge,” Imtiaz Ahmed said during the programme, further adding that the only time a similar time-trial event took place in Bangladesh was during the 2010 South Asian Games.
Inam Ahmed informed that the MoU is for a four-year period and that they want to take this race to hilly tracks in the future because the aim of this initiative is to throw the spotlight on tourism as much as to expedite cycling as a sport in Bangladesh.
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