RI to send six cyclists to Tour de Philippines

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia is to send six cyclists to the Tour de Philippines in Manila, April 16 to May 3.

Sofian Ruzian, deputy director of the SEA Games training center, said that the Indonesian Cycling Association (ISSI) has approved the plan of sending the cyclists to the Philippines.

"ISSI chairman Harry Sapto has agreed to send the six cyclists to the Philippines, regarded as a warm up to the SEA Games to be held here in October," Sofian said.

The six cyclists are Tonton Susanto, Supaedi Efendi, M. Handy, M. Basri and two newcomers from West Java, Mochamad Amin and Nunung Burhanuddin. The four latter cyclists took part in the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia in February.

The Tour de Philippines will cover a total distance of 2,465.3 kilometers and is divided into 16 stages. The race will be participated in by several Asian strong cycling countries like Kazakhstan, China, South Korea and Japan.

A total cash prize of US$141,000 (Rp 350 million) will be up for grabs for the racers.

The Philippines will have five teams for the race.

"The Tour de Philippines is considered a difficult race, so we will only send road race specialists," Sofian said.

Sofian added that Indonesia has only set a target of being the fifth in the overall team champion. "For the individual events, we hope Tonton will perform well." (lnt)