Amin wins 1st stage of Tour d'Indonesia

Amin wins 1st stage of Tour d'Indonesia

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Lembang, West Java

Amin Suryana of Indonesia struck early in the opening stage of
the Dji Sam Soe Tour d'Indonesia from Jakarta to Lembang on
Monday, as race participants voiced concern over the sloppy
handling of security along the race course.

Amin, riding for the Sinar Sentosa team, pulled away from Stig
Dam and Nathan Dahlberg of the Netherlands-based Greenfields
Fresh Milk team in the last 15 kilometers of the stage. He
covered the 178.6-kilometer route in a time of five hours, four
minutes and 35 seconds.

Dam of Denmark finished in second place in 5:05.50, followed
by Dahlberg of New Zealand in 5:09.00.

Despite a good showing in last year's Tour d'ISSI, where he
finished in third, Amin's opening stage win surprised many people
given the number of strong riders in the event, including Wong
Kam-Po and Ghader Mizbani.

"I didn't feel any pressure in pushing ahead in the final 15
kilometers of the race," said the 27-year-old rider following the
stage.

Amin also took the early lead in the race for the King of the
Mountain title, after tackling the 30-kilometer climb from the
exit point in Subang to the entrance gate of the Tangkuban Perahu
crater. Stig Dam and Amin's teammate Mumuh Muksin trail in second
and third respectively in the King of the Mountain title
chase.

Four of the nine total stages of the tour will feature
climbing sections, and the Jakarta-Lembang boasted the longest
climb, which contributed to the numerous riders who pulled out
before the finish line.

Twenty-nine of 84 riders failed to finish the stage and two of
them, according to race director Sofyan Ruzian, were disqualified
from the rest of the tour because they stopped riding before
completing at least 50 percent of the stage.

The opening stage started at City Hall in Jakarta. The riders
toured through different areas of the city, and traffic was
blocked off to give way to the peloton.

However, in some areas the authorities failed to block off the
traffic completely, forcing the riders to slow down and make
their way through busy roads.

Riding out of Bekasi, the peloton began to disperse as riders
from Agcor Casino Filipino tried to break away from the main
pack.

Other riders soon followed and soon Amin Suryana found himself
in a fight against Nathan Dahlberg, Stig Dam, Ryan Ariehan of the
Indonesian national team, Kazakhs Vyacheslav Dyadichkin of Plygon
Sweet Nice and Llyod Reinante of Pagcor.

Dahlberg raced clear five kilometers after Subang, but he was
eventually reeled in by Amin and Dyadichkin. At the rugged Ciater
pass, with scores of locals looking on from the fruit stalls
lining the road, Amin pulled away in an apparently decisive
break.

He lumbered steadily up the steep, winding road. He made a
final sprint to the finish line, raising his hands in triumph to
the cheers of spectators.

Stig Dam finished one minute and 15 seconds behind Amin, while
Dahlberg crossed the finish line almost five minutes behind the
winner.

"I'd love to win the stage. Still, it is a good result. I was
caught up out there. I was tired. It was an incredibly long and
tiring race. There are a lot of turns and climb sections,"
Dahlberg said, adding that he was enjoying his first tour in
Indonesia.

One rider heading for the finish line almost took a wrong turn
due to a lack of directions from race marshals.

Complaints about security were also raised by the Malaysian
team, which saw its riders finish out of the top 10.

"Complaints are naturally unavoidable, particularly on the
first day of a race," Jamaluding Mahmood, the international
commissaire assigned by the Union Cycliste Internationale to
supervise the tour, said.

Meanwhile, race director Sofyan pledged better handling of
tour marshaling to ensure the safety of riders in the next
stages.

The second stage will take the riders from Bandung to
Tasikmalaya on Tuesday, covering a distance of 119.8 kilometers.