Tour d'Indonesia features 85 riders from 9 countries

Eva C. Komandjaja The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

A total of 85 cyclists from nine countries, including Indonesia, are set to take part in the Dji Sam Soe Tour d'Indonesia 2004 next month.

The race, which is scheduled to run from Sept. 27 to Oct. 6, will cover a distance of 1,503 kilometers from Jakarta to Denpasar in nine stages. A total of US$100,000 in cash prizes will be up for grabs.

Indonesia will field six teams: a national team and five local teams that have qualified for the race from the previous races -- the Tour de Jabar, the Walikota Cup Surabaya and the Tour de Sulawesi.

They will compete against teams from Iran, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan.

The organizing committee also invited teams from Switzerland and Egypt but they will not come due to tight competition schedules.

The local clubs are Polygon Sweet Nice Pro and Polygon Sweet Nice team (both from Surabaya), Custom Cycling Club of Jakarta, Dodol Picnic and Sinar Sentosa, both from West Java.

Secretary-general of the Indonesian Cycling Association (ISSI) Sofian Ruzian told reporters on Thursday that the race route would provide tough challenges for the riders due to its high level of difficulty.

"This is the route that we used during the 1997 SEA Games, and it should be challenging for foreigners and local riders to tackle.

"We had originally planned a route that would have started from Sumatra. But we were wary about security and were content to have the race from Jakarta," Sofian said.

National team's member Ferinanto said that the first stage from Jakarta to Lembang and the fourth stage from Semarang to Yogyakarta would likely be the most difficult.

"There are so many steep ascents in these routes. Just looking over the side makes me shiver," he said with a laugh.

Acknowledging that he was not so skillful in the climbs, Ferinanto said that he would push hard on the flat routes.

"I'm fairly knowledgeable about the riders from Iran, Malaysia and the Philippines. I have defeated them on flat routes, but not on the climbs," Ferinanto said.

"But of course I will try to do my best for the national team," he quickly added.

Ferinanto will team up with Rochmat Nugraha, Suwandra, Ryan Ariean and another rider who will be decided upon later by ISSI.

Sofian said that ISSI was looking for more challenging routes for future races.