Cyclist Santia gets ticket to ride in the Netherlands

Cyclist Santia gets ticket to ride in the Netherlands

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Cyclist Santia Tri Kusuma, part of the elite Indonesia Awakens
(IA) training program, is scheduled to leave for the Netherlands
next week to ride for top women's club R en TC Groenewoud.

Member of the referees commission of the Indonesian Cycling
Association (ISSI) Eva Catharina said on Thursday that Santia
would likely leave on June 8, pending approval of her visa.

She will be on a three-month stint for the team in European
races.

"The Dutch club became interested in her when it saw her in a
World Cup series competition in Australia," said Eva, who will
accompany Santia to the Netherlands.

According to National Sports Council (KONI) data issued on
Wednesday, Santia won the third stage in Australia.

Eva said Santia was originally scheduled to compete for six
months from May, but her visa was not approved in time.

Accommodation, training and meal costs in the Netherlands will
be paid by the club, while ISSI is providing the return ticket
from Jakarta to the Netherlands.

Earlier, head of the IA program Djoko Pramono said that
cycling was showing the most improvement among the 12 IA sports,
evident from Santia's recruitment and the satisfactory results of
other cyclists in competition.

IA athletes are in training for major regional sporting
events, including this year's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and the
2006 Asiad.

"I think Santia's level is not only at that to win a gold in
the SEA Games, but she must be able to win a medal in the Asian
Games," he said.

ISSI will also hold the Tour de Indonesia in September, with
five teams -- Giant Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, IR Iran, Vietnam
and Perth City -- already confirmed to participate.

A total of 12 foreign and five local teams are expected to
take part in the race, starting on Sept. 11 in Jakarta and
finishing on Sept. 21 in Denpasar, Bali.