Padang Welcomes Tour de Singkarak

Padang, West Sumatra - With teams descending on West Sumatra for the inaugural Tour de Singkarak, former cycling legend Puspita Mustika Adya hopes local riders will do their country proud.

Puspita, who is still recovering from an accident he suffered last July while coaching the Brunei Darussalam national team, said he had high hopes for Indonesian cyclists Tonton Susanto and Ryan Ariehaan.

“They have a chance to compete with the international teams because they`re both climbers,” he said of the two riders who just completed the Jelajah Malaysia Tour, an eight-stage race running 1,240 kilometers held earlier this month.

The rest of the national team, according to Puspita, are sprinters who will be hard-pressed against uphill terrain in this race.

Tonton and Ryan will compete in the Tour de Singkarak as part of the Indonesian national team.

Munaji, the coach and manager of local team Araya, brought a team full of Surabaya-based riders, all aged 23 or younger.

One team which could excel on the hilly terrain is Jazy Sports-Beacon of the Philippines.

Team owner Jazy Garcia, whose team finished 18th in the Jelajah Malaysia Tour, said 80 percent of the squad were climbers. “We have good luck in Indonesia,” said Jazy, whose team finished third in the 2008 Tour de Indonesia.

“If we can race in the top five, that`ll be great.”

The tour covers 462 kilometers between Padang and Singkarak. A team time trial opens the four-day race on Thursday. Titania Veda

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.coml (28 April 2009)
Photo: http://anotherbali.blogspot.com

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