Santia does the rounds for gold

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post/Manila

Santia Tri Kusuma duly paid back the national cycling selectors' trust in her by riding away with gold in the Individual Time Trial on Thursday in the 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

The petite cyclist clocked the best time of one hour, nine minutes and 34.62 seconds after traversing the hilly 31-kilometer course in Tagaytay, outside Manila.

Baby Marites Bitbit of the Philippines was second and Vietnam's Hoang Thi Thanh Tan third in the field of 14 cyclists from seven countries.

The win showed the versatility and reliability of the 24 year old, who won a gold at the 2001 Games and two in 2003, but had never competed in this event.

"It takes different tactics and strategy. I can adjust them on the course during the training session," said Santia, whose win was cheered by national chess players competing at a nearby venue.

Time trials are usually held on flat courses, but the host nation had banked on giving their cyclists an advantage on the steep route.

They had not figured on Santia being part of the Indonesian opposition.

"We relied on her to race in the time trial because we found she was making good progress during training. Compared with other participants in the region, we were convinced that she would be able to win gold," team manager Sofyan Ruzian said.

Santia said she relished riding along the unusual course. "I became more spirited when I had to keep going up the hills."

Although she was enrolled in a Jakarta university last year, she has been forced to take a one-year sabbatical from her courses on sports science due to her cycling commitments.

"I was to have started again in November, but it was impossible to do so because I had a busy training schedule prior to the Games. Hopefully I can start in the middle of this month."

She will get to show her prowess in the saddle again on Friday, when she defends her road race gold.