Fund shortage hits 1997 RI cycling tour<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Financial hitches may force the cancellation of
\nnext year's Tour de Indonesia, an international road race cycling
\nchampionship slated to be held next March, a national cycling
\nofficial said Monday.<\/p>\n
\"We should have been able to iron out the financial problems
\nlast month if the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding
\nbetween the Indonesian Cycling Association (ISSI) chairman and
\nthe National Sports Council's funding consortium chairman could
\nhave been realized during that month. Now everything is hanging
\nin the balance,\" said Sofyan Rusian, who is ISSI chief of
\ncompetition affairs.<\/p>\n
The 1996 Tour is scheduled to run from March 7 through March
\n12 from Jakarta to Denpasar, covering more than 1,000 kilometers.
\nIt will be divided into nine stages.<\/p>\n
The organizers are planning to invite top cyclists from the
\nNetherlands, Italy, France, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand,
\nthe Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand and
\nVietnam.<\/p>\n
Host Indonesia itself is to field all of its seasoned
\ncyclists, including those who represented the country at last
\nyear's SEA Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand.<\/p>\n
The road race is to be revived after a six-year lapse. The
\nlast Tour was held in 1991 and covered the same route.<\/p>\n
Sofyan said the race would cost at least Rp 1.5 billion. \"The
\nfunds are needed to provide air tickets, board and lodging
\nfacilities and prize money for the riders among other things,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
ISSI would be very disappointed if the tour was canceled since
\nit would have served as one of the warm-ups for national cyclists
\nbefore next year's SEA Games here.<\/p>\n
\"The dates for the Tour are quite timely, because it is
\nexpected that foreign riders who will take part in the Tour de
\nLangkawi in Malaysia, scheduled for Feb. 19 to March 2, will be
\nwilling to move on to Jakarta for the Tour de Indonesia, given
\nthe proximity and the short time difference between the Malaysian
\nrace and the Indonesian event,\" Sofyan said.<\/p>\n
He said if the race has to be postponed, the organizers would
\nhave to spend more funds on the air tickets for the foreign
\nriders.<\/p>\n
Mountainbiking<\/p>\n
ISSI also announced that the 12 cyclists, 19 men and 2 women,
\nbeing groomed for next month's Asia-Pacific mountainbike
\nchampionships in Taipei will have a warm-up outing before the
\nAsian meet when they compete in the Gudang Garam mountainbike
\nrace to be held in the tourist resort of Toyabungkah, Kintamani,
\nBali, from Nov. 16 to Nov. 17.<\/p>\n
The cyclists are Sugianto, Amir Mahmud, Zanily Siswanto,
\nFerinanto, Marta Mufreni, Soni. M. Haryadi, Ferry Sonic, Sanni
\nWidiyansah, Anantas, Syamsul Bakri and the two female riders,
\nRisa Susanti and Sri Sudarni. (bas)<\/p>",
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