2016 Tour de Flores preview

Yes, the Asia Tour is still in Indonesia and, after the weekend s commotion, everyone is no doubt looking forward to an entertaining, but uneventful, five days of racing. Does that make sense?

BACKGROUNDER
The Tour de Flores is a brand new race on the Asia Tour calendar, yet somehow it seems familiar. Is it the TdF abbreviation? Not quite, but it probably doesn t hurt to share a handle with the world s biggest bike race.

Ah yes, it s likely the fact that every team* and almost every official that attended Tour de Banyuwangi Ijen last week has been gently shepherded eastwards along the chain of islands that form Indonesia and deposited at a point that is closer to Australia than the nation s capital of Jakarta.

For all the similarities though, there are some things the two UCI2.2-ranked races don t have in common.

Whereas the Banyuwangi Government organised its local race in conjunction with the Indonesian Cycling Federation (ISSI), Tour de Flores is run by a private organisation chaired by Primus Dorimulu, Director of listed investment company PT Star Pacific Tbk which has amongst its media-centric portfolio one subsidiary which the company claims is one of the largest information providers on Indonesia for foreign media . So, international coverage shouldn t be a problem.

More importantly, Tour de Flores will also differ vastly from ITBDI in that there isn t a single stage that can be said to favour sprinters. Every one of the five stages in this week s race contains climbs that are either Cat 1, hors categorie, or a combination of the two.

After enjoying a couple of days snorkelling and sight-seeing in between races, rides have had to endure more long transfers and also haven t had the opportunity to loosen their legs with a ride since all bikes were loaded onto a boat on Sunday to be transferred to the TdF (there it is again) start village ahead of their arrival. Hopefully, it won t take long for turning circles to feel familiar, too.

WEATHER
Hot and humid, with temperatures between 30-35 C during the day, dipping into the mid 20?s overnight.

TEAMS BREAKDOWN
As per article 2.1.005 of the UCI regulations, the 2016 Tour de Flores is open to the following teams: UCI Professional Continental, UCI Continental, National, Regional and Club. In accordance with article 2.2.003, teams must have a minimum of four, and maximum of eight, riders the actual number being set by the organiser, which for Tour de Flores is five riders per team. Of the 20 teams expected to participate, 12 will be at UCI Continental level with the remainder club and national teams.

TEAMS*
Tour de Flores has confirmed the participation of every team below though, at time of writing, the organiser has yet to make a ruling on whether Singha Infinite will start.

START LIST (link)

LEADER S JERSEYS

Five jerseys will be awarded at the conclusion of each stage:

Leader of General Classification Red Leader of Points Classification Dark blue Leader of King of the Mountains (KOM) Classification Polka Dots Leader of best Asian Rider Classification Blue

Leader of best Indonesian Rider Classification Red and White

PRIZE MONEY
For an inaugural edition of a UCI2.2 level race, the total prize purse of IDR1 000 000 000 (~USD75 000) is designed to grab headlines the figure might be 25% less than Tour de Flores UCI2.2 sister race (Tour de Banyuwangi Ijen), but given teams who compete at ITDBI are automatically invited to Tour de Flores, Continental team managers might already be polishing up their presentations to secure an Indonesian racing block next year. Prize distribution for the major categories:

Overall winner (individual) = IDR50 000 000 (USD3 750) Overall team = IDR40 000 000 (USD3 000) Overall KOM = IDR20 000 000 (USD1 500) Overall Points = IDR20 000 000 (USD1 500) Overall Indonesian Rider = IDR15 000 000 (USD1 125)

Stage winner = IDR15 000 000 (USD1 125)

MEDIA OUTREACH
All major elements are in place: the official website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The official hashtag on the social web is #TdFlores.

RESULTS
Click here to see results after the end of each stage

STAGES AND PROFILES

Stage 1 | Larantuka Maumere, 138.8 Km
Thursday, 19 May 2016 (starts 09:00 local time)

Stage 2 | Maumere Ende, 141.3 Km
Friday, 20 May 2016 (starts 07:30 local time)

Stage 3 | Ende Bajawa, 123.3 Km
Saturday, 21 May 2016 (starts 09:00 local time)

Stage 4 | Bajawa Ruteng, 136.6 Km
Sunday, 22 May 2016 (starts 09:00 local time)

Stage 5 | Ruteng Labuan Bajo, 121.5 Km
Monday, 23 May 2016 (starts 09:00 local time)

STAGE RESULTS

Stage 1 official results sheet (PDF)
Stage 2 official results sheet (PDF)
Stage 3 official results sheet (PDF)
Stage 4 official results sheet (PDF)
Stage 5 official results sheet (PDF)