Palu, C Sulawesi, (Antaranews Sulteng) - Some 125 domestic and foreign cyclists have confirmed their participation in the 2018 Tour de Central Celebes (TdCC) to be held on Oct 14-18.
The number of participants increased from some 60 cyclists in the first TdCC organized in the previous year, Dr Hasan, race director of the Second TdCC, stated here, recently.
"The final number of participants is 20 foreign teams from 15 countries and five national teams. Each team will comprise five cyclists and three crew members," he remarked.
More cyclists are interested in the TdCC, as it has been included in the Union Cyclist Internasionale (UCI) and will offer more prizes worth a total of Rp1.2 billion, or more than double than Rp580 million last year.
The foreign teams are from Australia, Mongolia, Malaysia, Canada, the Philippines, Iran, Belgium, Thailand, Poland, Uzbekistan, Serbia, China, Columbia, France, and the United States.
The national teams are PGN, ACC, KFC, BRCC/UBK, and Indonesia Pratama.
The cycling race will cover a total distance of 760 kilometers, stretching from Luwuk City, Banggai District, to Palu Municipality.
The route to include Tojo Unauna District, Poso, Parigi Moutong, Sigi, and Donggala will showcase beautiful natural scenery, culture, and unique traditions of Central Sulawesi.
The race will be divided into five stages, with stage I: Luwuk-Ampana covering 133 km; stage II: Ampana-Poso, 163.1 km; stage III: Tentena (Poso)-Parigi, 204.5 km; stage IV: Parigi-Sigi, 119.7 km; and stage V: Watatu (Donggala)-Palu City, 127.7 km.
As the TdCC race has been listed in UCI`s calendar of events, in addition to bonuses from the organizing committee, the participants of TdCC 2018 will receive UCI`s points for the world`s cyclist ranking.
UCI will send its observers to monitor the race and will be involved in the judging process.
Some 125 cyclists to participate in TdCC 2018
Tour de Central Celebes (TdCC) 2017 (ANTARA/Mohamad Hamzah))
