TheJakartaPost
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Tour d'Indonesia offers cyclists challenges
The organizers of newly resumed 2008 Speedy Tour d'Indonesia are confident the event, which starts Sunday, promises cyclists greater challenges
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he organizers of newly resumed 2008 Speedy Tour d'Indonesia are confident the event, which starts Sunday, promises cyclists greater challenges.
"We have 17 teams participating. The minimum number of participation for the event is between 10 and 15 teams, so 17 teams is an OK number," race director Sofyan Ruzian told The Jakarta Post over the phone Saturday.
The annual event, which was listed on world cycling body International Cycling Union's (UCI) calendar in 2003, was absent last year due to sponsorship woes.
In 2006, 24 teams from nine countries took part in the Tour. Initially, 10 foreign teams and eight local teams were expected to take part in the event this year.
Following the withdrawal of three foreign teams -- Jajo Spirit of Switzerland, Mes Kerman of Iran and Nordland Hamburg-Palmares of Germany -- the organizers allowed two additional local teams to take part, taking the number of participating teams to seven foreign teams and 10 local teams.
The German team Nordland Hamburg-Palmares signed up for the race, but reportedly canceled their participation because they could not afford the soaring airfare prices as a result of the global economic crisis.
Jazy Sports Beacon of the Philippines, National Team of Japan, Tinelli Collosi of Australia/New Zealand, National Team of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur Cycling Association and Tabriz Petrochemical Cycling Team of Iran will be among the participating teams.
The Tabriz team is one of the strongest teams on the Tour. Its cyclist, Mehdi Faridi, came out as the King of Mountain at the 2006 Tour. The team was also crowned the best Asian team in 2007.
The US$100,000 tour will run from Nov. 23 to Dec. 5. The cyclists will travel a 1,726-km route, from Jakarta to Bali. The route this year is longer than that of the 2006 tour, which was 1,352.2 km and completed in nine stages.
The tour's 80-km Jakarta stage will kick off at 8 a.m. at the South Plaza of the Bung Karno Sports Complex in Central Jakarta.
Two cyclists from the Kuala Lumpur team were disqualified because they were below the 18-year-old age requirement, Sofyan said.
