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Published on June 14, 2014

On Thursday, 12th June 2014, , the city of Solok hosted the Finish location for the first time in the history of the international cycling competition of Tour de Singkarak. The event became a special treat for the city of Solok and its inhabitants since although the city was always included on the race route, it never had the chance to either host its start nor finish line.

Tour de singkarak 2014

The 6th stage of Tour de Singkarak 2014 also marked the first time that it included a traditional market for its start line. This stage was flagged off right at the center of Padang Panjang’s traditional market, and making the finish line at the municipal building of thye city ofSolok. Covering a total distance of 111Km, the stage presented both flat and descending tracks with three King of Mountain (KOM) spots and 2 sprint spots.

This stage saw Japanese cyclist, Kohei Uchima from Japan Cycling Federation (JCF) return to the podium as Champion after his firstvictory in the first stage of Tour de Singkarak 2014.

tour de singkarak 2014

Recording the time of 2:37:48, the Japanese rider was followed by Souflane Haddi from Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team in second place with recorded time of 2:38:27, followed closely in 3rd placeby Indonesian racer Dadi Suryadi from Pegasus Continental Cycling Team who managed to record the time of 2:38:29.

To Indonesia.travel, Kohei explained that key to his victory in this stage were his downhill techniques and skills. The Japanese rider is seento have mustered more audacity than any of the other cyclists by taking the downward tracks at high speed.

“The stage features KOM and sprint tracks. Honestly, I am not very good at KOM challenges, that is why I rely on the descending tracks to catch up to the front row. I managed to get to the front right after going downhill. Other riders tried to approach me, but I managed to hold on to my position and finally gained victory” said the 25 years old racer.

Tour de Singkarak 2014

However, the victory of the 6th stage did not change much of the overall general standings of Tour de Singkarak 2014. The Yellow Jersey was retained by Amir Zargari (PKY) for the 4th time after scoring a total time of 17:23:04, while his teammate, Rahim Emami remained on second place with an accumulative time of 17:24:28. The 3rd place was taken by Hossein Alizadeh scoring total time of 17:25:15, and Arvin Moazemi Godarzi came in 4th position with the total time of 17:26:33.

The same applied to the ASEAN category, Dadi Suryadi still maintained the Red and White Jersey and remained in the lead with total scoretime of 17:29:23, followed by Bambang Suryadi from the Indonesia National Team with total time of 17:33:40, and Team 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippine’s rider Boots Ryan Cayubit in third place with total time of 17:34:20.

Solok is situated about 64 Km from Padang, capital of West Sumatra, and 71 Km from the hill town of Bukittinggi by the Sianok Canyon. Solok is known for its high quality rice and, therefore, its lush green rice paddies with a picturesque backdrop of towering hills.