LOMBOK – L’Etape Indonesia, a cycling event for amateurs, will bring a touch of ‘Le Tour ‘ to Mandalika, Lombok, on April 5.
For us, Lombok is a sleeping giant of tourism that has yet to boom. It’s a cycling paradise for amateurs. Our route covers everything [as participants] can see mountains, hills, rice paddies and beaches,– Zacky Badrudin, event director of L'Etape Indonesia by Tour de France
The event, will be run jointly under Amaury Sports Organisation, which organises the Tour de France, with local sporting event company Rocca.
“For us, Lombok is a sleeping giant of tourism that has yet to boom. It’s a cycling paradise for amateurs. Our route covers everything [as participants] can see mountains, hills, rice paddies and beaches,” Zacky Badrudin, event director of L'Etape Indonesia by Tour de France, told a media briefing in Jakarta.
More than 1300 people from 17 countries have signed up for the race.
First held in 1993, L'Étape du Tour is an organised mass participation cycling event that allows amateur cyclists to race over the same route as a Tour de France stage.
West Nusa Tenggara Tourism Agency head Lalu Muhammad Faozal told the Jakarta Post the April event would be beneficial for tourism in the region as April usually marked a low season.
“Cycling is a massive sport. Let’s say that each participant brings more than two crew members. With [the current] 1,300 participants staying for over three days, can you imagine how much would they spend during their stay for the event?” he said.