Askari wins Tour d'Indonesia

The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

Despite winning only one stage, Iranian Hossein Askari of Giant Asia Racing Team emerged as the overall winner on Wednesday of the Dji Sam Soe Tour d'Indonesia cycling competition.

Askari covered the nine stages -- stretching 1,432 kilometers from Bandung to Denpasar -- in 36 hours, one minute and 43 seconds, beating teammate Paul Griffin by 43 seconds to keep the yellow jersey.

"I never thought that I would turn out to be the winner on this tour because I only won once in the third stage from Purwokerto to Yogyakarta last Wednesday. But I'm happy with this achievement," the 30 year old was quoted as saying by Antara news service.

Kam Po Wong of Purapharm Hong Kong triumphed in Wednesday's 135.3-kilometer final stage from Gilimanuk to Denpasar. His 3:25.42 pipped Indonesia's Nunung Burhanudin of Benteng Muda Club and another local rider, Ade Solihin of Bintang Kranggan Cycling, in the pack at the finish line.

The US$100,000 race began on Sept. 12 in the West Java capital, with a rest day on Sept. 16.

Third overall was Dyadichkin Vyacheslav of Polygon Sweet Nice (36:02.54), with Ryan Ariehaan of Dodol Picnic Garut behind him as the top local finisher (36:04.06).

"The biggest barrier was on the road along the coast from Jembrana to Tabanan. The wind blew so hard and the course was a little bit hilly. My energy was also sapped," Ryan told reporters on the podium.

Giant Asia, backed by Askari and Griffin, was first in the team classification with a time of 108:09.18, followed by Polygon Sweet Nice (108:25:20) and Purapharm (108:28.09).

The winner of the point classification was Filipino Rhyan Tanguilig of Casino Filipino Pro Cycling, who earned 22 points in total.

Sprinter Bernard Luzon of Casino Filipino Pro Cycling took possession of the green jersey, with five points for his sprint.

Yevgeniy Yakolev of Polygon Sweet Nice kept the polkadot jersey for the second consecutive year as the winner of the mountain stages.