RI cyclists face uphill battle in Tour de Langkawi c'ship
RI cyclists face uphill battle in Tour de Langkawi c'ship
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian cyclists are expecting an uphill battle against their overseas opponents in the Tour de Langkawi championships in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
"Our cyclists have smaller builds and their mental preparation is still behind the overseas teams," Tonton Susanto, a national cyclist from Subang, West Java, said in Kota Kinabalu yesterday.
The Tour de Langkawi begins today. The riders will have to finish 12 stages, or a total distance of 1,629 kilometers from Kota Kinabalu to Langkawi Island. It is the biggest race in Asia and third biggest in the world after the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italy.
Nearly 150 cyclists grouped into 25 teams from 24 countries will take part in the 12-day race that finishes on March 2. The cyclists come from Canada, Denmark, England, Ireland, Norway, Slovakia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Australia, USA, South Africa, Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Finland, and New Zealand. They are vying for prize money totaling Rp 900 million (US$375,000).
Indonesia will be represented by Tonton Susanto, Muhammad Handy, Mohammad Basri, Supaedi Effendy, Teguh Eko Pambudi and Krisyanto. The six men, being trained by H. Tarwi and Gatot Sandjaja, are among the national cyclists being groomed for the SEA Games in October.
"Our cyclists are going through intensive training for the Malaysian race, which is a warm-up for the SEA Games," Tonton quoted Antara as saying.
He added that Indonesia would have to look out for Malaysia, which hopes to take most of the titles on offer. "We have a slight chance of beating the cyclists from Europe and the USA and we have to win against our opponents from Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand and Malaysia," Tonton said.
Of the same opinion was Gatot, who added that Malaysia is well prepared for the race.
"Malaysia is relying on M. Kumaresan and Tsen Seong Hoong. They certainly don't want to lose to Indonesia on their own soil," Gatot said. (lnt)
Stages
First stage: Kota Kinabalu (individual team trial of 19.1 kilometers); Second stage: Sarawak (123.2km) Third stage: Batu Pahat-Bandar Malaka (92km) Fourth stage: Port Dickson-Sunway Lagoon (203,5km) Fifth stage: Sunway Lagoon-Kuala Lumpur (159.1km) Sixth stage: Bukit Kiara-Genting Highland (71.3km) Seventh stage: Bentung-Pahang-Kuantan (198km) Eighth stage: Kuantan-Kuala Terengganu (204.9km) Ninth stage: Kuala Terengganu-Kota Bahru (166km) Tenth stage: Jeli-Perak-Gerik (132km) Eleventh stage: Kangar-Kedah-Penang (189.4km) Final stage: Road race on Langkawi Island.