Cyclists in action during an
earlier race. The national
cycling team will tackle the
84.5km stage two of the Tour
de East Java today.Picture: BT
file
National cyclist I'maadi Abd Aziz placed 15th after stage one of the Tour de East Java yesterday.
Team captain Reduan Yusop came in 23rd, followed by Rifa'ie Hj Johor in 38th out of the 65 cyclists taking part.
Compatriots Muhammad Rafiuddin Zikara and Mohammad Nazri Mastan failed to finish the 180km mountain race from Surabaya to Sidoarja.
I'maadi told The Brunei Times, "I am not really happy that I came in 15th place... It was a really hard and fast race."
"In the last 3km I pulled away from the breakaway group," he said.
Malaysia's Anuar Manan crossed the line in first position for Synergy Baku Cycling Project (Azerbaijan).
Second and third place went to two continental riders from Japan.
Aisan Racing Team's (Japan) Taiji Nishitani finished behind Anuar and in third was Team UKYO's (Japan) Yukihiro Doi.
Stage two of the tour, an 84.5km race from Sidoarja to Tosari, will be held today.
Kazakhstan's Ivan Tsissaruk, who races for Track Team Astana, picked up the title in last year's event.
