New route for Tour d'Indonesia cycling race

Thu, 11/19/2009 1:10 PM  |  Sports

JAKARTA: Organizers of the Speedy Tour d'Indonesia have rerouted the race stages to make the 1,513 kilometer cycling race from Jakarta to Bali safer for participants.

"The new route is safer and more comfortable than last year. The riders will face more sprint challenges," Sofyan Ruzian, secretary-general of the Indonesian Cycling Association, told a press conference Wednesday.

The revamped route has scrapped the Bandung-Sumedang-Cirebon and Gilimanuk-Candidasa-Denpasar stages. The US$100,000 race, which will run from Nov. 22 to Dec. 3, is split into 11 stages between Jakarta, Bandung, Tasikmalaya, Purwokerto, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Madiun, Surabaya, Probolinggo, Banyuwangi, and Denpasar in Bali.

Foreign riders will come from Iran, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Australia. For the hosts, it will be a warm up event ahead of the Southeast Asian Games, beginning Dec. 9. - JP

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