The chairman of this year’s tour edition, Nasrul Abit, who is also West Sumatra’s deputy governor, said unpredictable weather was one of the challenges that the organizers should take into consideration as it impacts road conditions and cyclist safety.

“We will organize the next edition before the monsoon comes,” he said on Wednesday after deploying the participants in the start line of the stage four in Cimpago Beach, Padang. “We will coordinate with the ISSI [Indonesian Cycling Association] and the UCI [Union Cycliste Internationale] to prevent the event from having a schedule clash with other international tours.”

Rain kept coming in several areas of the province from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday afternoon when cyclists finished their races in the Pasaman regent’s office in Pasaman regency.

The initial 170.5-kilometer route of the fifth stage was reduced to 161.4 km because of flooding in several spots. The organizers eliminated Bukik Limbuku, Taram, Andaleh, Tarok and Batang Tabik from the original fifth stage route over the weather challenge.

The Jakarta Post observed on Thursday that there had been a landslide in one place and fallen trees in several other spots along the way from Bukit Tinggi to the fifth stage finish line at the Pasaman regent’s office. The landslide occurred in the Jl. Raya Bukit Tinggi-Palopo area.

Race director Jamaludin said the organizers had worked since early Thursday to clear mud and fallen trees away to make sure the road was safe.

The enthusiasm of local residents in welcoming the tour varied in several places.

Only a few spectators were gathered at the starting line of stage four on Cimpago Beach, Padang, on Wednesday. In contrast, hundreds of locals flocked to the fifth stage finish line in Pasaman to welcome the cyclists.

Nasrul hoped that this year’s Tour de Singkarak would attract more spectators, exceeding the 550,000 people who watched the race last year.

Even though there has not yet been a study on the impact of Tour de Singkarak to West Sumatra’s tourism, West Sumatra Tourism Agency head Oni Yulfian said his province had seen progress in developing its tourism industry thanks to the annual tour.

“There have been many hotels established in several places like Batu Sangkar, Bukit Tinggi and Padang. Batu Sangkar now even has a four-star hotel,” Oni claimed.

Thursday’s fifth stage ended with Australian Ryan Cavanagh of the St. George Continental Cycling team finishing first on the podium after clocking in at 4:00:07, followed by Malaysia’s Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki of the Terengganu Cycling team and the Philippines’ Rustom Lim of the 7 Eleven -Cluqq Roadbike Philippines, respectively.

Jesse Ewart of Malaysia’s Sapura Cycling team still holds the yellow jersey, despite finishing in 45th place with 4:01:22 in the fifth stage. His overall time was 19:52:54.

The Australian said he was not bothered by the unfriendly weather throughout the race, adding that he was accustomed to race under the rain back home.

“It was a very tough finish with the rain. It was quite slippery, but I am happy to retain the yellow jersey. It’s equal for everyone. It was difficult and little bit more challenging,” Jesse said.

Indonesian Muhammad Abdurrohman of the KFC Cycling team maintained his red-and-white jersey as his time was still the best among the host riders.