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Tour d'Indonesia stays afloat, eyes higher level
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Done deal: Indonesian Cycling Federation (ISSI) chief Raja Sapta Oktohari (left) poses with Sis Apik Wijayanto (right) of sponsor BRI during the launch of the 2019 Tour d'Indonesia cycling race in Jakarta on Tuesday. (ISSI/ISSI)
I
ndonesia’s most prestigious road cycling competition, Tour de Indonesia, is back with its latest edition that will kick off on Aug. 19. The tour, organized by the Indonesian Cycling Federation (ISSI), managed to stay afloat after last year’s confident gig, which marked the resurrection from a seven-year hiatus.
The organizer of the event — dubbed “Racing the Element” — has promised to weave together elements of sport, tourism and culture to make the competition more interesting. State-owned lender Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) is the main sponsor of the Tour de Indonesia, which will see racers set off from the Borobudur temple in Magelang, Central Java, and greet the finish line at the Batur Geopark Museum in Bali on Aug. 23.
Youth and Sports Ministry spokesperson Gatot S. Dewa Broto said the ministry would support the tour by ensuring the stability of internet connections on all routes.
The tour, which is classed as a category 2.1 race by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), comprises five stages, the third and longest of which stretches 195.9 kilometers from Batu in Malang to Jember in East Java.
ISSI chief Raja Sapta “Okto” Oktohari has vowed to upgrade the competition to match the UCI’s second-tier classification of world cycling races, 2.HC, where HC refers to the French term hors catégorie. The race would then be on par with Malaysia’s Tour de Langkawi, which is currently the only 2.HC race in Southeast Asia.
Okto, the son of Hanura Party chairman Oesman Sapta Odang, said he aimed to upgrade the competition level next year, but keeping the tour in existence was still the primary goal.
“There are many requirements [for an upgrade], from the service [for the participants] to the execution of the race and the coverage of the event. These are the requirements we need to fulfill. This will hugely affect our budget,” he said.
