Locals, riders enjoy Tour d'Indonesia

Locals, riders enjoy Tour d'Indonesia

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Edwin Raats was brought in only four days before the race, and
was expected to be a reinforcement for the Benteng Muda Tangerang
team during the ongoing Dji Sam Soe Tour d'Indonesia cycling
race.

However, the 33-year-old Dutchman has had a hard time making
his mark on the race and finds himself languishing in 70th place
overall in 1,503-kilometer, nine-stage tour completed, with five
stages to go.

Despite his mediocre place in the standings, Raats said he was
enjoying the tour, and has been amazed by the response from the
public.

"I see people coming out to watch the race. I have never seen
such a big crowd in the Netherlands," Raats told the Jakarta
Post.

The traveling convoy comes across groups of people when they
enter towns or go through villages. A group of school children
were spotted waving flags and clapping to acknowledge the riders.

Particularly during the finish phase, they turn out in large
numbers. Waiting for the riders to cross the finish line, the
spectators thronged from both sides of the street to make around
500-meter corridor usually in front of the various town halls.

Some of them asked for autographs or photos with the podium
winners.

The crowds often line up a few kilometers before the finish
line when the riders were beginning to enter the towns. They were
at times too excited that they got too close to the approaching
riders.

But their overexcited behavior has unfortunately caused at
least one crash, during the second stage from Bandung to
Tasikmalaya, West Java, when the crowds got in the way of the
riders, causing riders to get entangled with each other. The
result was one rider fractured some bones and was forced to
abandon the tour, with others suffering minor injuries.

Crowd control has proved to be a very tough task for the
organizing committee, which is assisted by local security
authorities.

"Pull your vehicles to the side, please. Riders are coming,"
blared the speaker from the leading police car.

The entire group is made up of around 80 cyclists, 17 team
cars, 21 marshaling motorbikes, three commissioner's cars, two
ambulances, two Neutral Vans, a broom wagon, three police cars,
10 press cars, and one each for the race director, time-keeper,
jury and VIPs.

The convoy, which stretches for around 500 meters at the
start, can extend to 5 kilometers when the riders spread out in a
number of groups after breaks from the peloton.

At such a distance, the task of handling ensuring crowd
control becomes much tougher, especially since they must ensure
the all traveling members stick to regulations imposed by Union
Cycliste Internationale.

Sanctions have already been handed out for a number of
violations.

The team manager of Kencana Bike Team was fined 50 Swiss
francs for turning back and driving in the opposite direction. A
photo journalist and his driver were reprimanded and now must
stay at the back of the convoy in the remaining stages, after
they nearly smashed into a wall of spectators. Cyclist Teguh E.P.
of the Central Java Team was fined 30 Swiss francs for throwing
objects in the face of spectators.

While the Indonesian riders' expected improvement still
awaits, stage-four winner Ghader Mizbani of Iran sees the big
crowds as a good sign that local interest in on the rise and that
will eventually lead to more quality Indonesian riders as more
and more young people get into the sport.

"It's a good race. People come out to look at the race. That's
great. I'm sure within the next two or three years, Indonesia
will become one of the best cycling tours in Asia and you can
expect more strong riders like Tonton (Susanto)," the Giant Asia
Racing Tour rider said referring to the top Indonesian cyclist,
who has been forced to quit the tour due to injury.

Mizbani is one of around 30 foreign riders participating in
the tour. They come from Australia, Denmark, Hong Kong, Iran,
Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines,
Taiwan and Thailand. Some of them ride for Indonesia-based
cycling clubs.

Yellow jersey holder Nathan Dahlberg of New Zealand said he
was enthusiastic about the whole tour.

"I enjoy this tour. The route is hard and challenging. I love
to come back racing in the next," the Greenfields Fresh Milk
rider explained.

Enjoying the race might be all that is left for riders with
slim chances of winning like Edwin Raats.

"I'm amazed by the number of fans. They give me extra
motivation," he said.

While small victories from Raats remain possible, at least in
the chase for stage wins, local riders still need to prove that
they belong in international races, and would do well to use the
extra motivation by the enthusiastic home crowd support. If one
of them can funnel that energy into physical and mental strength
there could be a local champion of the 2004 Dji Sam Soe Tour
d'Indonesia.