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.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
RSS