Bandung picked for start of cycling tour
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.