JAKARTA, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- A total of 19 teams have confirmed participation in the Tour de Banyuwangi in East Java province of Indonesia, starting on Wednesday, a government official disclosed on Tuesday.
15 teams came from offshore and four others from domestic, head of Banyuwangi district Abdullah Azwar Anas revealed.
The foreign teams include continental teams which are the third division of the world cycling, among the foreign teams are Ningxia Sports Livial of China, Kinan Cycling Team of Japan, and Terengganu Cycling Team of Malaysia, the official said.
The race is set to be held from September 26 to 29 staging four laps with a total distance of 599 kilometers, the head of district said.
"The cyclists will pass through various areas surrounded by beautiful scenery, this is in line with the theme of this sport event developing tourism," he cited in a statement.
The first stage cyclists will directly pass through an uphill route which starts from the district administration office and finish at Rowo Bayu, Sanggon with a distance of 153.1km , Anas revealed.
At the second stage, the racers will pass a flat route which starts from Kalibaru station and finish at the district administration office with a total of 179.3km in distance, he said.
"This is the longest route which needs more cyclists' strength and also provides opportunity for the sprinters to secure points," Anas asserted.
The third stage is the toughest one, comprising an uphill pathway and an up-and-down route. This route starts from Genteng and finish at the administration office with a total distance of 139.4km, he said.
The final route starts from Sarongan village and finish at Paltuding area with a distance of 127.2km, Anas added.
"We try to make start and finish at different place each year partly to introduce new areas to the cyclists," he revealed.
The race offers a total of 872,483 U.S. dollars in prize for the participants, according to the committee of the event.
