The week-long Tour de Taiwan cycling race starts today in Kaohsiung and will cover 820km during seven stages that will take the riders through culturally diverse areas along the west coast before concluding in Taipei.
Huang Chao-hsun, president of the organizers, the Chinese Taipei Cycling Association (CTCA), said he hoped that the event would promote the nation internationally to the same extent that the renowned Tour de France promotes the European nation.
He also hopes that the race would enhance public awareness of the need to reduce carbon emission and lend further impetus to the enthusiasm for cycling that has swept the nation.
The race, which will run through next Saturday, begins in Kaohsiung and then heads north through Chiayi County and Taichung City, go back south to Changhua County and then continue northbound again through Hsinchu City and Taipei County before reaching the final stage in Taipei, the CTCA said.
The association said the cyclists would ride past some of the nation’s best-known tourist attractions, such as the Love River in Kaohsiung, Bagua Mountain with its giant Buddha sculpture in Changhua, Taipei County’s Shihsanhang Museum of Archeology and Taipei 101.
Teams from 23 countries on five continents, including Poland, Greece, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia and South Africa, will pursue NT$1.6 million (US$46,000) in prize money, the CTCA said.
The Tour de Taiwan is being held for the 21st year, the organizers said.
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