Govt, Cycling Federation Launch Tour de Nusantara
Jakarta. After May's successful Tour de Flores, the Indonesian Cycling Federation, or ISSI, and the government have teamed up to launch the Tour de Singkarak and Tour de Nusantara events.
ISSI chairman Raja Sapta Oktohari said he has discussed Tour de Nusantara becoming part of Indonesia's international cycling series with Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi and Tourism Minister Arief Yahya.
He expects the Tour to be held before the end of next year.
"It sounds too confident, but it's not an impossible thing to do [Tour de Nusantara]," Raja said after the soft launch of the Tour de Singkarak 2016 in Jakarta on Monday night (25/07).
"Previously, we created cycling events in Sabang, Lake Toba, Singkarak, Jakarta, South Sumatra, Flores, Bali, Borneo, Celebes, Lombok, and ended up in Papua."
"Interestingly, participants are eager to collect points in Indonesia and the events make tourists stay longer— on average three months," he said.
This year, the Tour de Singkarak will be hosted by the Tourism Ministry and the West Sumatra provincial government from Aug. 6 to 14.
The race features 23 cycling teams — 18 international and five Indonesian — with a total 230 participants exploring eight stages of the 1,102 kilometer trek.
"The good news is, Tour de France organizer Amauri Sport Organization [ASO] has praised Indonesia for successfully organizing international cycling events," he said.
Tags: Keywords: