Padang, West Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Gadher Mizbani, a cyclist of Iran`s Tabriz Petrochemical team, emerged as the winner of the Third A segment of 84.6-km-long Bukittinggi-Sawahlunto route in the Tour de Singkarak cycling competition here on Saturday.He covered the segment in one hour, 52 minutes and 57 seconds.
The second place was won by Zargari from Azad University Team (1:53:30), while Dadi Suryadi from the West Java team (1:53:31) was in the third place.
In the sprint number in this segment, Indonesian cyclist Samai got 2 points after finishing third, while Hossein Mizbani of Azad University Team in the first place, and Medhi Sohrabi in the second.
This segment was very challenging with winding and ascending roads. The participating cyclists would later take the Third B segment of Sawahlunto-Lake Singkarak which is 91 km long on Saturday afternoon.
The fourth segment covering Lake Singkarak-Lake Kembar-Lake Singkarak 9188.8 km long) will take place on Sunday (May 3).
A number of world-class bicycle racing teams from 15 countries including New Zealand, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Iran, Australia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, and Qatar took part in the Tour de Singkarak cycling competition, April 30-May 3, covering a distance of 459 km offering a total cash prize of US$60,000.
The foreign racers and local participants compete in four segments, namely Padang-Bukittinggi (88.2 km), Bukittinggi-Sawahlunto (85.1 km), Sawahlunto-Danau Singkarak (90.2 km), and Lake Singkarak-lake Kembar - Lake Singkarak (188 km).
The 11,200-hectare Lake Singkarak is the second largest lake in Sumatra Island after Lake Toba in North Sumatra province.
Some 6,420 hectares of Singkarak lake is situated in Tanah Datar district and the rest in Solok district.
The cycling race, which is aimed at promoting tourism in West Sumatra, is lustered up by a music concert, a food festival, and a fun bike event.
