Bandung picked for start of cycling tour

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Bandung is set for the start of the Dji Sam Soe Tour d'Indonesia cycling championship, replacing last year's site of Jakarta.

"Jakarta will host the city tour for participants. The official start will be in Bandung," Indonesian Cycling Association (ISSI) secretary-general Sofyan Ruzian told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

The Sept. 11-Sept. 21 tour, offering total prize money of US$100,000, will end in Bali.

The riders will cover a total distance of 1,432 kilometers in nine stages, with organizers making several changes to the routes crisscrossing Java from last year's tour.

Apart from the opening Bandung to Cirebon stage, replacing last year's Jakarta-Subang, there are new routes of Cirebon- Purwokerto (stage 2), Purwokerto-Yogyakarta (stage 3), Yogyakarta-Surakarta (stage 4), Surakarta-Madiun (stage 5), Madiun-Malang (stage 6) and Malang-Jember (stage 7).

The remaining two stages, encompassing Jember-Banyuwangi-Bali, remain the same as in 2004.

Sofyan said 12 foreign and five local teams confirmed their participation.

Snell ISO Star (Netherlands), Chinese Taipei's national squad and teams from Vietnam, Mongolia and Beijing are making their debuts in Indonesia.

"Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam are coming with their national teams," Sofyan said.

The five local teams are Polygon, Benteng Tangerang, BKCC, CCC and Dodol Picnic.

Last year's champion, Nathan Dahlberg with his Netherlands- based Greenfieds Fresh Milk (GFM) team, will defend his title, Sofyan said.

Dahlberg won the opening stage and held on in the remaining stages to win the 2004 Tour, followed by Amin Suryana of Indonesia and Wong Ngai Ching of Hong Kong.

Ghader Mizbani, dubbed Asia's "mountain king" for his prowess in ascent stages, is also back with Giant Asia Racing Team of Chinese Taipei.

The tour will also serve as warmup for the national team ahead of the 23rd Southeast Asian Games in Manila in November.