Cyclists set for Tour d'Indonesia
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Fourteen international and 5 domestic cycling teams are set to compete in the 2005 Dji Sam Soe Tour d'Indonesia cycling stage race, which will start in Bandung on Sept. 12 and wind up on Bali Sept. 21.
The 1,433-km race is split into nine stages: Bandung-Cirebon, Cirebon-Purwokerto, Purwokerto-Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta-Solo, Solo- Madiun, Madiun-Malang, Malang-Jember, Jember-Banyuwangi, Gilimanuk-Denpasar.
"The riders will do a 'city tour' of Jakarta on Sept. 11 before being transferred to Bandung for the opening stage," race director Sofian Ruzian said during a press conference here on Tuesday.
Among the participating teams, Sofian said, City of Perth Cycling Team, Purapham of Hong Kong and Thailand's National Team have yet to submit their riders' names.
Purapham is expected to pose a strong challenge with its ace Wong Kam-Po, whose supporting role helped push teammate Wong Ngai Cing into third place in the individual classification last year.
Greenfields Fresh Milk of Netherlands, which took the titles for the individual and team classifications, is back with all but one new rider.
New Zealand's Nathan Dahlberg, who won last year's yellow jersey ahead of runner-up Amin Suryana of Indonesia and Wong Ngai Cing, will be the only rider from GFM's triumphant squad.
The new team members are Autralia's Rhys Pollock and Edmund Hollands; New Zealand's Robin Neid and Michael Carter of United States.
"This team is stronger than last year. The race will be more difficult this year ... but I'm optimistic we can emulate the feat," team manager Puspita Mustika told The Jakarta Post.
Indonesia's former cycling star said that hill specialists Neid and Carter would have an equal chance to Dahlberg to take the race's top honor.
Discussing rivalries from other teams, Puspita said: "Giant Racing Team, Purapham and several other teams will be strong."
Giant Racing Team of Chinese Taipei has Ghader Mizbani, who is hailed as one of the best climbers in Asia. Last year, the Iranian rider took second place in the climbing category here behind Kazhakstan's Yevgeny Yakovlev.
Amin Suryana returns to the race with a new team: Netherlands- based Worldwide Cycling-Telkomsel.
A member of the Indonesian team for the Southeast Asian (SEA Games), Amin, who rode for Sinar Sentosa last year, said he had been focused on his preparations since April.
Team manager Matthijs Wiggers said that the team strategy would revolve around pushing Amin to the championship.
"Hopefully, teammates will support me during the race," said Amin, who was present at the press conference along with Yakovlev.
Amin's teammates include fellow Indonesian Dwi Haryanto and the Dutch trio of Anno Pederson, Frank Terwel and Remko Kramer.
Teams: City of Perth Cycling Team (Aus), Worldwide Cycling Telkomsel, Snel Isostar, Greenfields Fresh Milk (Ned), Hamburg Cycling Team (Ger), Giant Asia Racing Team (Tpe), Purapham (Hkg), Casino Filipino Pro (Phi), Beijing Cycling Team (Chn), Chinese Taipei national team, Mongolia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Dodol Picnic, Benteng Muda, Customs Cycling Club, Polygon Sweetnice, Bintang Kranggan Cycling Club.