New Zealander wins Tour d'Indonesia

New Zealander wins Tour d'Indonesia

Musthofid and Wahyoe Boedhiwardana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

Nathan Dahlberg of New Zealand and his Greenfields Fresh Milk
team won on Wednesday the US$100,000 Dji Sam Soe Tour d'Indonesia
in convincing fashion on a day when Indonesian cyclists rode to a
sweep of the final stage.

Rochmat Nugraha, Abdullah Fatahillah and Heksa P. Prasetya
took the top three places in the ninth and final stage of the
tour, which covered 135 kilometers from Gilimanuk to Denpasar.

The three crossed the finish line with the same time, while
Rochmat of the Indonesian National Team, leading his Fatahillah
of Polygon Sweet Nice B team, and Heksa of Custom Cycling Club
all finished with the time of 3 hours, 26 minutes and 35 seconds.

"I'm happy that I finally could win a stage because it was a
tough race against some international cyclists. Thanks be to God,
that I could keep my strength throughout the tour," Rochmat said.

"Today's stage was not as difficult as some previous stages
because the route just had some gentle slopes. But we still had
to ride against strong winds," he said after finishing the race.

Rochmat said that he and the other five riders broke away from
the peloton in the first 10 kilometers. With Edmund Hollands of
Giant Asia Racing Team, the winner of the last two stages and red
jersey holder Yevgeny Yakovlev, the group was still in the lead
nearing the finish line until Rochmat jumped for the last attack.

Despite the dominating finishes by the local riders - four
other Indonesians also made it in the top ten on the day - the
overall leader did not change with Dahlberg of New Zealand being
crowned the Tour d'Indonesia champion.

Amin Suryana of Sinar Sentosa Purwakarta, winner of the
opening stage, clung to second place with Wong Ngai-Cing of the
Hong Kong National Team taking third place.

The three looked to be content with their positions and simply
rode together in the main peloton all through the stage and
crossed the finish line with the same time on Wednesday.

Dahlberg's success in maintaining his lead, which he never
relinquished after taking it in the third stage was attributed to
his team's efficient strategy and tactical plans as well as the
rider's cycling power.

Dahlberg's teammates Stig Dam, Anno Pederson and Ben Robson
also finished in the main pack to ensure Greenfields' formidable
lead at the top was kept intact at the end.

Greenfields of the Netherlands, whose riders did not win a
stage, topped the overall team classification by a massive gap
ahead of Surabaya-based Polygon Sweet Nice, which was spearheaded
by second-stage winner Yakovlev, and Pagcor Casino Filipino of
Philippines, which won the third stage through Bernardo Luzon.

Giant, which took three stage wins courtesy of Iranian Ghader
Mizbani and Australian Edmund Hollands, was fourth while the
Indonesian National Team was sixth behind Amin's team Sinar
Sentosa.

The ten-day tour started out with 84 riders, but 24 failed to
finish due to injuries or disqualification.

Overall results from the 1,503-kilometer, nine-stage Dji Sam
Soe Tour d'Indonesia from Jakarta to Denpasar, which concluded on
Wednesday:

General individual classification

1. Nathan Dahlberg GFM/Nzl 36:29:21

2. Amin Suryana SSP/Ina 36:31:32

3. Wong Ngai-Cing HKG/Hkg 36:36:12

General team classification

1. Greenfields Fresh Milk (Ned) 109:35:43

2. Polygon Sweet Nice Pro Team (Ina) 109:48:09

3. Pagcor Casino Filipino (Phi) 109:56:27

General individual classification on climbs

1. Yevgeny Yakovlev PSN/Kaz 13 points

2. Ghader Mizbani GNT/Iri 12 pts

3. Amin Suryana SSP/Ina 8 pts

General individual classification on sprints

1. Suwandra INA/Ina 8 points

2. Sansoko Reno Yudo KBT/Ina 7 pts

3. Rochmat Nugraha INA/Ina 6 pts

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