Foreign teams hope to race Tour d'Indonesia again<\/p>\n
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post\/Denpasar, Bali<\/p>\n
\"We are coming back next year,\" Qiu Jijin, team manager of
\nTaiwan-based Giant Asia Racing Team, said.<\/p>\n
Giant managed to take three stages thanks to their top riders
\nIranian Ghader Mizbani and Australian Edmund Hollands, but with
\nonly three healthy riders for most of the stages, the Taiwan-
\nbased trade team finished in just fifth place in the team
\nclassification of the Dji Sam Soe Tour d'Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Giant had been jolted early when two riders withdrew. It
\nresorted to local cyclists but they had little impact on the team
\nas both crashed out of the tour early. However, the team hopes to
\nbe better prepared next year. \"We will make better preparations
\nfor the tour next year,\" Jijin said.<\/p>\n
The Malaysian contingent arrived with two teams, but in the
\nend it was only its senior team - Malaysia A - that survived
\nthrough to the final stage and finished a mediocre 14th of 17
\nteams in the final standings.<\/p>\n
Given its challenging route, the next Tour d'Indonesia, should
\nit be held, will likely lure the Malaysian teams to return.<\/p>\n
\"It's a very challenging tour. It's even a bit harder to
\ntackle than (Malaysia's) Tour de Langkawi,\" Arsyad Firdaus,
\nMalaysia's team manager, said.<\/p>\n
While pushing the more experienced riders to rise to the
\nchallenge for the top places, Arsyad was keen on giving his
\nyounger riders a chance to develop their cycling toughness. \"It
\nis good for our development plan for the juniors,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The Philippines, which was represented by its pro team Pagcor
\nCasino Filipino, also hailed the tour's competitiveness, however
\nthey filed complaints about partiality in the judging.<\/p>\n
\"This (complaint) is not about winning or losing. This is
\nabout consistency in imposing the rules,\" Carslos Luis, a Pagcor
\nofficial, said.<\/p>\n
After seeing Bernardo Luzon win the third stage, the team had
\nto compete with just four riders following the disqualification
\nof Albert Primero from the tour because he was caught drafting
\n(riding in the slipstream) behind public vehicles in the fourth
\nstage.<\/p>\n
While conceding to the disqualification, the team complained
\nabout late notification, which was announced only at the start of
\nfifth stage which was held after the riders had a one-day break.<\/p>\n
Pagcor was still able to show its mettle by finishing in third
\nplace behind Greenfields Fresh Milk of the Netherlands and Plygon
\nSweet Nice of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Greenfields had a double victory with its ace Nathan Dahlberg
\nwinning the individual category ahead of local rider Amin Suryana
\nand Wong Ngai-Cing of Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
Dahlberg and his team's cruise to victory -- practically
\nsealed as early as the third stage -- has also raised concern
\nabout the need to change the sequence of the stages in the tour.<\/p>\n
Although he failed to win a stage, Dahlberg kept his pace to
\nvictory, benefiting partly from the fact that the tour offered
\nthe first two stages with big climbs.<\/p>\n
The 1,503-kilometer Tour d'Indonesia from Jakarta to Bali,
\nwhich encompassed routes in West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta,
\nEast Java and Bali drew a lot of spectators during its 10-day
\nrace featuring 84 riders form eight local and seven foreign
\nteams.<\/p>\n
Amin's ride to second place behind Dahlberg appeared to
\nattract Giant to hire the Subang-based rider.<\/p>\n
Despite failure to win the individual and team titles,
\nIndonesia's riders had something to cheer about with Suwandra,
\nSansoko Reno Yudo and Rochmat Nugraha emerging as the best three
\nsprinters.<\/p>\n
While the enthusiasm of local cycling fans received a thumbs-
\nup, traffic marshaling and media facilities will need more
\nattention from the organizers.<\/p>",
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