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fter winning five at the last Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand, Indonesian cyclists will be looking to increase their gold collection to six in Laos.

The mission looks impossible given that the upcoming SEA Games will offer only eight gold medals from road and mountain bike races compared to the previous 20.

Team official Sofian Ruzian insisted the target was not overly ambitious.

"Our cyclists are favorites to win gold in the men's and women's individual time trial *ITT* and downhill, as well as the men's road race and cross country," Sofian, the Indonesian Cycling Association (ISSI) secretary-general, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

The medal hopefuls include Samai, Angga Freddly, Kaswanto and Ryan Ariehaan - a gold medalist two years ago - in the men's road race, and Candra Rafsanjani, Dadi Nurcahyadi, and Bandi Sugito in the men's cross country.

Tonton Susanto is expected to better his previous silver with a gold from the men's ITT. Santia Tri Kusumah and Nurhayati in the women's ITT are expected to defend thier gold medals. The men's and women's downhill medal hopes rest on Popo Ariyo and Lisa Susianti.

At the Asian Cycling Championships in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, held in August, only Santia won a gold medal.

The 17 cyclists will miss their last chance to practice in the Tour de Indonesia, from Nov. 22 to Dec. 2, as it runs too close to the SEA Games which start on Dec. 8.

The Tour de Indonesia was rescheduled from Nov. 15-25 to avoid clashes with a prestigious International Cycling Union-sanctioned (UCI) race in Hainan, China.

The mountain bikers still have a chance to warm up at the Asian Mountain Bike Championships in Malacca next week.

With five gold medals, cycling was one of the few sports contributing to the medal tally in 2007, along with wrestling and pencak silat.

The track-and-field and badminton squads gave the most with seven gold medals each.

The 25-person athletics team will look to defend those achievements in Laos where a total of 30 gold medals will be contested.

Suryo Agung Wibowo (men's 100- and 200-meters) and Triyaningsih (women's 5,000- and 10,000-meters) are expected to retain their medals, as are Agustina Bawele and Dedeh Irawati (both women's 100-meter hurdles), Dwi Ratnawati (women's discus throw), Rose Herlinda Inggriana (women's hammer throw), and men's marathon runner Yahuza.