Tour d'Indonesia features 85 riders from nine countries<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
A total of 85 cyclists from nine countries, including
\nIndonesia, are set to take part in the Dji Sam Soe Tour
\nd'Indonesia 2004 next month.<\/p>\n
The race, which is scheduled to run from Sept. 27 to Oct. 6,
\nwill cover a distance of 1,503 kilometers from Jakarta to
\nDenpasar in nine stages. A total of US$100,000 in cash prizes
\nwill be up for grabs.<\/p>\n
Indonesia will field six teams: a national team and five local
\nteams that have qualified for the race from the previous races --
\nthe Tour de Jabar, the Walikota Cup Surabaya and the Tour de
\nSulawesi.<\/p>\n
They will compete against teams from Iran, Malaysia, Thailand,
\nHong Kong, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei and
\nUzbekistan.<\/p>\n
The organizing committee also invited teams from Switzerland
\nand Egypt but they will not come due to tight competition
\nschedules.<\/p>\n
The local clubs are Polygon Sweet Nice Pro and Polygon Sweet
\nNice team (both from Surabaya), Custom Cycling Club of Jakarta,
\nDodol Picnic and Sinar Sentosa, both from West Java.<\/p>\n
Secretary-general of the Indonesian Cycling Association (ISSI)
\nSofian Ruzian told reporters on Thursday that the race route
\nwould provide tough challenges for the riders due to its high
\nlevel of difficulty.<\/p>\n
\"This is the route that we used during the 1997 SEA Games, and
\nit should be challenging for foreigners and local riders to
\ntackle.<\/p>\n
\"We had originally planned a route that would have started
\nfrom Sumatra. But we were wary about security and were content to
\nhave the race from Jakarta,\" Sofian said.<\/p>\n
National team's member Ferinanto said that the first stage
\nfrom Jakarta to Lembang and the fourth stage from Semarang to
\nYogyakarta would likely be the most difficult.<\/p>\n
\"There are so many steep ascents in these routes. Just looking
\nover the side makes me shiver,\" he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n
Acknowledging that he was not so skillful in the climbs,
\nFerinanto said that he would push hard on the flat routes.<\/p>\n
\"I'm fairly knowledgeable about the riders from Iran, Malaysia
\nand the Philippines. I have defeated them on flat routes, but not
\non the climbs,\" Ferinanto said.<\/p>\n
\"But of course I will try to do my best for the national
\nteam,\" he quickly added.<\/p>\n
Ferinanto will team up with Rochmat Nugraha, Suwandra, Ryan
\nAriean and another rider who will be decided upon later by ISSI.<\/p>\n
Sofian said that ISSI was looking for more challenging routes
\nfor future races.<\/p>",
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