Published on June 16, 2014
Maintaining superb performance throughout all stages, Iranian cyclist, Amir Zargari of the Pisgaman Yazd Team was crowned Overall Champion of Tour de Singkarak 2014 at the close of the event, having completed the 9th and final stage on Sunday, 15th June 2014.
While, Indonesian cyclist, Dadi Suryadi from Pegasus Continental Team, who held the Red and White Jersey since the 2nd Stage, emerged as Champion ASEAN Category with total accumulated time of 28 hours 46 minutes and 17 seconds.
The final stage took competing cyclists from Carocok Beach in Painan, pass the Pesisir Selatan Regency to Padang, with an addition of a 5 laps circuit race around the capital city of West Sumatra.
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Amir Zargari managed to repeat his success in Tour de Singkarak 2011 when at the time he was with the Azad University Team. This year, Amir Zargari successfully conquered the total 1,250Km race in 9 stages and managed to pull the fastest total accumulative time of 28:31:48, defeating the 130 racers from 18 teams.
On a special note, although emerging as Overall Champion of the international competition, Amir Zargarin in fact, never won top position in any of the 9 competing stages. The highest achievement the 34 years old cyclist made in the entire series of the race was second place in the 4th stage from Bukittinggi to Agam and in the 8th stage from Sawahlunto to South Solok, as well as 3rd place in the 2nd stage from Pasaman to West Pasaman.
The 9th stage saw the victory of Australian cyclist, Brenton Jones from Avanti Racing Team who was first to cross the finish line, recording the time of 2:43:12.
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In other results of Tour de Singkarak 2014, the title of King of Mountain (Polka Dot Jersey) was finally won by Pishgaman Yazd Iran cyclist, Ramin Mehrbaniazar who collected a total of 40 points. Meanwhile, the Green Jersey and title of the King of Sprint were finally given to Cris Joven from 7 Eleven team of the Philippines with a total of 35 points.
The victory of Amir Zargari also led his team, Pishgaman Yazd Iran to win the Best Team category, having accumulated the Best Time of 85 hours 37 minutes and 28 seconds. Pishgaman Yazd managed to better another Iranian team Tabriz Shahdari”s ranking by 24 minutes and 10 seconds and Philippines’ Team 7 Eleven Roadbike by 55 minutes and 52 seconds.
In all, Tour de Singkarak 2014 presented fantastically challenging routes, that saw fierce competition among racers, caused by the diverse character of each stage which made it difficult for any of the competing cyclists to dominate.
A Successful Episode of Tour de Singkarak
Through the cooperation of many parties including the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, the government of West Sumatra Province, the cities and regencies of West Sumatra, and the Indonesia Sport Cycling Association (PB ISSI), the Tour de Singkarak 2014 was successfully held throughout its 9 days’ competition.
This success was acknowldged by Brian Cookson, President of the International Cycling Union (UCI) who stated that Tour de Singkarak 2014 was widely appreciated by both competing athletes and spectators alike.
A similar statement was mentioned to www.indonesia.travel by President of Commissaire Panel of Tour de Singkarak 2014, Peter Tomlinsen. He gave his full appreciation to participating parties who had given all their best in assuring the success of the event, including those in charge of safety and security who ensured a good race for all competing athletes.
In its 6th edition, Tour de Singkarak is acknowldged to have given positive impact on many sectors, especially in promoting West Sumatra to the world. The international event has boosted infrastructure construction, the opening of new markets and accessibility for investments. Through the years, Tour de Singkarak has also resulted in multiplier effects to the regional economy which, among others, is proven in the growth of hotels, transportation, culinary industries, and other tourism related businesses.
Tour de Singkarak 2014 has, moreover, caught the attention of the world and attracted a huge number of media to cover this mega sport tourism event that was held in West Sumatra, Indonesia.
The event is recorded to have been covered by over 115 journalists from different media , in television, radio, the printed media, and online from all over the world.
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The international competition has also left memorable experiences for competing cyclists.themselves
To www.indonesia.travel, racers expressed that they will always remember Tour de Singkarak for the thrills provided by the Kelok 44 (The 44hairpin bends), Kelok 9 (The Nine Hairpin bends), and the so called “deadly” climb at Bukit Sileh. Adding that they truly enjoyed the beautiful natural landscape of West Sumatra such as Lake Singkarak, the Twin Lakes, the Harau Valley, Lake Maninjau, the view of the Jam Gadang Clock tower, Bukittinggi, Sawahlunto, Istana Basa Pagaruyung Palace, and more.
Cyclists were, moreover, impressed by the friendliness and hospitality of the Indonesian people, especially the Minangkabau of West Sumatra, and fully appreciatedtheir delicious culinary dishes.
To www.indonesia.travel, Champion Amir Zargari also said that he was very impressed by the hospitality of the West Sumatra people and looked forward to the following episode of Tour de Singkarak, next year.
“I have participated 4 times in the race with different teams. I am truly happy to have repeated the accomplishment that I made three years ago, and I will surely be back next year, no matter what,” said Amir Zargari.
Tour de Singkarak 2015 is scheduled to be held from 19th to 27th Spetember 2015. Three cities have offered to host the Opening. These are: Pesisir Selatan, Agam, and Padang Panjang. The change in the time of next year’s Tour de Singkarak is to give more preparation time to host cities and to attract more international participants, especially from Europe to challenge the Iranian cyclists who, for the past 6 years have dominated Tour de Singkarak.
