The sprint to the finish line in Wednesday’s 10th stage featured a dramatic pile-up. Iran’s Mehdi Sohrabi clinched the individual championship. (Photo: Nyoman Budhiana, Antara)

Iranian Cyclists Sweep Tour d’Indonesia Titles

Denpasar. Iran’s professional riders might want to start calling Indonesia home.

Mehdi Sohrabi clinched the individual championship at the 2009 Tour d’Indonesia, while his team, Tabriz Petrochemical, secured its second consecutive team title, as Iran extended its dominance of the annual race.

Sohrabi secured the crown on Wednesday after tallying an aggregate time of 31 hours, 32 minutes and 20 seconds after 10 stages. His time was 2:27 faster than second-place Ghader Mizbani, last year’s champion, and five minutes ahead of Andrey Mizuroj. All three are from Tabriz Petrochemical.

The Iranian team finished with a total time of 94 hours, 15 minutes and 56 seconds, followed by another Iranian team, Azad University.

There was some good news for the home crowd on Wednesday, however, as local team DI Yogyakarta secured third place overall.

Indonesian riders also swept the podium places in Wednesday’s 10th stage, the first time local riders finished 1-2-3 in this year’s tour.

Adi Ahmad Jukardi of Dodol Picnic Garut won the 136.8-kilometer stage with a time of 3:11:29.Agung Ali Sahbana of Customs Cycling Club and Andika Riyanto of Bintang Kranggan finished second and third, respectively. Agung also won the intermediate sprint event at the 52.1-km mark.

Hari Fitrianto of Polygon Sweet Nice topped the local racers’ final classification with an aggregate time of 31:42:24. Didit Purwanto of DI Yogyakarta and Budi Santoso of United Bike Kencana came second and third.

“This is a great result for us and Hari,” Polygon Sweet Nice director Harijanto Tjondrokusumo said. “We didn’t have much time for practice as we just got back from the Hainan tour in China before this race, but one of our racers still won a jersey.”

With Wednesday’s stage featuring mostly flat roads, the riders were packed in one peloton from the starting point in Gilimanuk to the finish line in Bali’s provincial capital.

The results of today’s final stage — a criter  ium around Denpasar — will not count in the overall standings.

Antara, JG

Your View

See Result