Top stars ready for cycling meet

JAKARTA (JP): The country's top cyclists are ready to ride high in the Rawamangun velodrome in East Jakarta from April 19 to April 20.

The Indonesian Journalists Association, which organizes the annual meet, announced yesterday that top cyclists Nurhayati, Selly Guntari, Sri Suharmi, Andry Sudradjat, Tonton Susanto, Hengky Setiawan and Nurrochman are all ready for the meet.

Nurhayati, the country's number one female cyclist, said yesterday she was not just eying gold medals, but also a new national record. The meet's sole sponsor, PT Supra Ferbindo Farma, is, according to Antara, offering a bonus of Rp 1 million to each cyclist who manages to break national records during the meet. The meet's total prize money is Rp 7.5 million.

Nurhayati won two gold medals at the meet last year. She also won the women's 3-km individual pursuit and, teamed up with Selly and Sri in the women's 50-km team time trial in the 18th Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, last year.

Andry Sudradjat, Chiang Mai SEA Games gold medalist in the men's 200m, said he was looking forward to repeat his success of last year. Last year Andry beat Herry Janto Setiawan, 1993 Asian Cycling Championships bronze medalist in the men's 1,000m individual time trial.

While Andry regards Herry as his strongest opponent, Nurrochman may prove to be a dark horse. Nurrochman, who has never won a gold medal in the Rawamangun meet, said he is very eager to win gold in the sprint events. Nurrochman finished among the top four at the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima. He was 1995 World Cycling Championships bronze medalist in the men's keirin. Keirin races use a motorbike to accelerate the bicycle for the first five laps.

The events featured in the Rawamangun meet include a 4,000m team pursuit, 1,000 individual time trial, the keirin race, 4,000m individual pursuit, 200m sprint, the men's 30,000m point race and the women's 3,000m individual pursuit. (arf)