All preparations continue to be made."Banyuwangi (ANTARA News) - The International Tour de Banyuwangi Ijen (ItdBI) will again be held in the East Javas district of Banyuwangi from May 11 to 14, 2016.
"All preparations continue to be made. The official from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), Jamaludin Mahmood, has just visited Banyuwangi to inspect the route to be used for the race," Acting Head of the districts Youth and Sports Affairs Ministry service, Wawan Yadmadi, said here Saturday.
ITdBI has been held annually since 2012 and has also been included in the UCI routine agenda under category 22.
The ITdBI 2016 will consist of four stages on a route stretching around 600 kilometers covering Banyuwangi, coast and plantation areas and the feet of Mount Ijen, an active volcano known in the world for its blue fire phenomena, he said.
The ascent to the feet of Mount Ijen is the most extreme as it is located 1,871 meters above the sea level with a slant of 45 degrees higher than in Malaysia which is only around 1,500 meters above sea level, he said.
The ITdBI has obtained an "Excellent" ranking from UCI to make it the best cycling event in Indonesia, he added.
Regarding the participants, he was optimistic many cyclists from abroad would participate in it like before, Wawan said.
He hoped that participants from five continents in the world would attend it, he said.
"The popularity and quality of ITdBI has improved from year to year, and like in the years before, cyclists from tens of countries are believed to participate in the event. We are now preparing everything for it," he said.
(Reporting by Masuki M. Astro/Uu.H-YH/INE/KR-BSR/F001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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