The first edition of the Tour de Batam will count on a lot of experience as it’s organised by the team running the Tour de Bintan for many years on the neighbouring island in Indonesia.
733 riders have registered for the competitive events spread over the weekend with an individual time trial on Friday, followed by two road races on Saturday and Sunday from which the time trial and Saturday granfondo count as qualifier events for the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships, scheduled to take place in Denmark next year.
The 206 registered riders for the time trial can expect a 15km back-and-forth loop with up and down going roads towards a turning point for a total of 200m of elevation.
On Saturday, the 527 riders have a 149km granfondo for men leaving from the north of the island to the southernmost point to turn and get back to the finish line which is located on the Barelang Bridge where riders pass after 37km into the race.
Women do the same course but turn back faster to have a total distance of 129km.
The elevation of both road races is a quite challenging 1800 and 1570m.
On Sunday, there is another road race and a final ranking over the three days.