TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The first leg of the Tour de Taiwan got underway on Sunday morning (March 30).
The eight-lap race covered 88.55 kilometers along Renai Road in Taipei. The race gave Taiwanese the chance to experience the thrill of cycling, and despite the momentary traffic disruption, Taipei residents seemed to enjoy the race to the finish line.
Each stage of the competition features different terrain and challenges. For example, the Taipei City stage featured sprints along Renai Road, while Monday (March 11) will feature frigid climbs up Jiaobanshan (角板山) in Taoyuan, and a concluding leg in Kaohsiung on Thursday (March 14).
This year’s installment of the Tour de Taiwan attracted 205 elite cyclists, representing 24 teams from 38 different countries. According to race authorities, this year’s event has attracted the best field of international cyclists in a decade.
Accompanying cyclists on the race course is a parade of support vehicles representing individual teams, as well as race organizers and police entourages. For example, vehicles at the start of the race include a communications vehicle with a half dozen antennas, a race commissioner vehicle, a broom wagon for cleaning purposes, and numerous motorcycles driving cameramen.
Taiwan is represented by top riders such as Lu Shao-hsuan (盧紹軒), Tu Chih-hao (杜志濠), Wu Chih-hao (吳之皓), and Chang Chih-sheng (張誌盛). However, an accident early on in the race caused them to lose significant time, and only Feng Chun-kai (馮俊凱) achieved a 25th-place finish.
The Taipei stage of the Tour de Taiwan was ultimately won by Israel’s 26-year-old Itamar Einhorn with a time of 1:39:03, followed by Italy’s Matteo Malucelli at 1:39:07, Spain’s Manuel Penalver Aniorte at 1:39:07, and Japan’s Oka Atsushi at 1:39:10. Crossing the line at the head of the pack had as much to do with luck, Einhorn said in a media interview.
“I had a good lead-out and was in a good position with my teammates. I was frustrated during the last kilometer, but at the last turn I found myself in a good place, which was a second position, which set me up for the sprint to the finish line,” said Einhorn.
He was given the “green jersey” for his win with UCI ProTeam Israel-Premier Tech. Einhorn is considered a young cyclist with potential, ratcheting up stage wins at UCI European Tour events in 2021.
With a stunning finish outside of Taipei City Hall, the tour now sets its sights on a difficult 115 km mountain route that will begin outside Taoyuan City Hall and finish at Jiaobanshan Park. A live broadcast of the race can be seen on the website.
The race was started in 1978 by Giant founder King Liu (劉金標) and is similar to other competitions such as the Tour of Thailand and the Tour of Slovakia. It is a Union Cycliste International (UCI) 2.1 category race, indicating a staged competition of national teams, continental teams, and professional teams over a course that travels down the West Coast.
