TdI TOURISM AND CYCLING RACE KICKS OFF AFTER SEVEN-YEAR HIATUS by Fardah

 Jakarta, Jan 25, 2017 (Antara) - The Tour de Indonesia (TdI) cycling and tourism event has now been revived again, after a seven-year hiatus.

        The event is ready to involve the participation of 94 cyclists from 19 countries, with a firsthand glimpse of the host country's scenic natural scenery and cultural arts.       
    Themed "The Ultimate Race is Back," the 2018 TdI is a quadrennial international cycling and tourism event, which was last organized in 2011.

         The Indonesian Cycling Federation (PB ISSI) has revived the TdI again following the Union Cycliste Internationale's (UCI's) decision to upgrade its level from 2.2 to 2.1, making TdI the highest level cycling race in Indonesia.

         This year, the TdI started from Prambanan Temple area in Yogyakarta on Jan 25 and will finish in Bali on Jan 28, 2018.

          The participants are grouped in 15 teams, comprising 11 foreign teams and four local teams: KFC Cycling, PGN Road Cycling Team, ACC Cycling, and the Indonesian National Team.

          The foreign teams are Sapura Cycling, Terengganu Cycling, 7-Eleven Team, Thailand Continental Cycling Team, Aisan Cycling Team, Interpro Stradalli, St. George Continental Cycling Team, Java Partizan, the Malaysian National Team, the Eritrea National Team, and the national team of Mongolia.

          They comprise 19 U-23 cyclists, 29 cyclists from Indonesia, and the rest being Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)-registered cyclists.  
     The foreign participants include those from Malaysia, Japan, Eritrea, Australia, Thailand, and Mongolia.

       The TdI will stretch 640 km in length, from Prambanan in Yogyakarta to Denpasar in Bali.

         It comprises four stages, namely Prambanan Temple-Ngawi, stretching 124.7 kilometers; Madiun-Mojokerto, spanning 117.5 kilometers; Probolinggo-Banyuwangi, covering 200 kilometers; and Gilimanuk-Denpasar, reaching 170.9 kilometers.

        The race will pass through 10 districts and municipalities in the three provinces, namely Yogyakarta, East Java, and Bali.

          In the race's first stage, the winner is Dylan Page of Switzerland, who joins the Sapura Cycling Team of Malaysia. He defeated Indonesian cyclists Projo Waseso of the Indonesian National Team and Abdul Gani from KFC Cycling Team, at 02:42:04.

          Earlier, Ferinanto, the former national cyclist and current coach of the Indonesian team, had expressed his hope that Indonesian cyclists could win the first stage.

         "I hope our cyclists would be able to break my record and win the Yogyakarta-Ngawi stage," he remarked.   
    Officially launched in Jakarta on Dec 11, 2017, the sport tourism event is aimed at promoting Indonesia's tourist destinations.

          In addition to, the TdI 2018 is also expected to help promote the implementation of the Asian Games to be hosted by Jakarta and Palembang (South Sumatra Province0, on Aug 18-Sept 2,  and Para Games 2018 to be held in Jakarta in October this year.          
   "We have lent support. We hope the two major sports events would have synergy with other sporting events," Raja Sapta Oktohari, the PB ISSI chairman, stated, recently.

         Logos and banners of the 18th Asian Games and Para Games have been put up at every venue of the TdI.

         This will be the second time that Indonesia will host the Asian Games, with the first one being held in Jakarta in 1962.

          Some 9,500 athletes; 2,500 personnel of the Asian Olympic Council; and 5,500 technical delegates from 45 countries will participate or be involved in the Asian Games.

          Furthermore, Indonesia's national cycling team, being trained for the Asian Games 2018, are also being tested during the TdI, according to Parama Nugraha, chairman of the organizing committee of TdI 2018.

          Initially, the TdI would have been organized in July 2017. The change in schedule of the TdI was attributed to the result of talks between the ISSI official and Italian event organizer RCS at the recent Asia Cycling Race Confederation Congress in Bahrain. It was also decided at the congress to postpone the TdI from July 2017 to January 2018.

          To ensure success of the TdI, PB ISSI had invited RCS representative Cristian Queirolo to visit Indonesia and conduct a survey of the route to be used by the TdI. The survey was conducted on the route linking Jakarta, West Java, and Banten, Oktohari remarked.

         In a bid to promote the country¿s tourism industry, several Indonesian regions organize annual sports tourism events for cycling enthusiasts by offering them exotic routes passing through rural green areas, with scenic charms and pleasant weather.

        The events include the Tour de Singkarak in West Sumatra, Tour de Flores and Tour de Timor in East Nusa Tenggara, Tour de Central Celebes in Central Sulawesi, Tour de Moluccas in Maluku, and Tour de Banyuwangi Ijen in East Java. ***1***

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(T.F001/A/BESSR/F. Assegaf) 25-01-2018