The Tour de Taiwan is to start today with almost 200 riders from 31 countries set to cycle 670.3km over five individual stages, the national cycling association said.
The 192 riders representing 23 teams are to cover 83.2km in the first stage, consisting of eight loops in Taipei from Taipei City Hall to Jing Fu Men (景福門) and back.
Stage two of the annual professional road race covers 120.59km, as the cyclists make their way from Taoyuan to Jiaobanshan Park (角板山公園) on the hilly Northern Cross-Island Highway.
Photo: CNA
Along the way, they face one of the two toughest climbs in the race.
The riders are to travel southwest along Highway No. 61 through Taoyuan’s Guanyin (觀音) and Xinwu (新屋) districts, then head southeast on Highway No. 66, through Yangmei (楊梅) and Pingzhen (平鎮) districts, and on to the Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫) through Dasi District (大溪) before arriving at Jiaobanshan Park.
In stage three on Tuesday, the riders are to cover 154.5km from Hsinchu to Taichung through Miaoli County.
The longest stage is the fourth, on Wednesday, covering 169.43km in 1.5 loops around Nantou County. It features another tough climb near the Xuanzang Temple (玄奘寺).
The riders are to start at Nantou County Hall, and cycle through Jiji (集集), Shuili (水里), Yuchi (魚池) and Puli (埔里) townships near Sun Moon Lake, before heading east toward Caotun (草屯), then back toward Nantou County Hall, Jiji and Shuili and finishing at the Xiangshan Visitor Center near Sun Moon Lake.
Stage five on Thursday would have the riders cover 146.44km, facing some of the biggest climbs in the race.
They are to start from the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum in Dashu District (大樹) in Kaohsiung, then head north through Qishan (旗山), Meinong (美濃), Liugui (六龜) and Jiaxian (甲仙) townships, before heading south through Shanlin (杉林), Qishan, Dashu, Yanchao (燕巢), Nanzi (楠梓) and Zuoying (左營) townships, to finish at Kaohsiung National Stadium.
Italian road racer Omar El Gouzi, who is to compete in his first Tour de Taiwan, said at a press conference on Friday in Taipei that his team, Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizane, are well represented at this year’s event.
“We have two sprinters and three climbers, so we can defend ourselves and attack every stage. So we will try to bring home some stage races and, also, if we can, the overall race,” El Gouzi said.
Members of the Spanish Equipo Kern Pharma team also expected to do well.
“Our goal is GC [general] classification. This is a really special race for us. We prepared really well. We came with huge ambitions and nice expectations,” Spanish cyclist Urko Berrade said.
The Tour de Taiwan, which dates back to 1978, has been part of the UCI Asia Tour since the creation of the UCI Continental Circuits in 2005, Union Cycliste Internationale president David Lappartient said.
“The Tour de Taiwan shines the spotlight on a beautiful country, and offers the riders the best of all worlds, from testing climbs through stunning countryside to high-adrenaline city-center circuits,” Lappartient said in a statement.
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
FUKUOKA SITUATION: Japanese media reported that the pathogen is expected to be identified by the summer, while the CDC downplayed the idea that it was hMPV A “mysterious cold-like illness” reported in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture does not seem to be a new disease, but Japanese authorities have been asked about the situation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The Fukuoka Prefectural Medical Association on Wednesday told a news conference that a “mystery cold” that has become a hot topic on social media is “highly likely to be caused by some kind of viral infection,” Japan’s KBC News reported. “Many people are experiencing symptoms starting with a sore throat, followed by a runny nose, phlegm and a severe cough,” KBC News reported, citing association officials. Health authorities are
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of upcoming AI and technology events, saying he plans to meet with clients and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) during his visit. After landing at Taipei Songshan Airport, Huang posed for photos with fans and handed out Yakult drinks to reporters and supporters waiting at the scene, saying he has “a lot to do” during the trip. Asked about reports that Nvidia’s planned headquarters site in Taipei’s Beitou Shilin Technology Park could break ground on May 27, Huang said that if the company holds an event, he would
Carrefour Taiwan is to begin using a new name from the start of July, but it cannot divulge the name until then, the chairman of the supermarket chain's parent company said today. President Chain Store Co chairman Lo Chih-hsien (羅智先) was asked by reporters after a shareholders' meeting to confirm whether the company has settled on a new name for the supermarket brand. In March, the government-registered name of two Carrefour Taiwan branches was quietly changed to "Le Chia Kang" (樂家康) in Chinese, raising speculation that has been selected as the name. Lo said that because of local regulations and contractual obligations, the
RSS