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SINGAPORE: The OCBC Cycle Singapore 2010 will act as a rehearsal for the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) road cycling competition.
And to meet international requirements of the Union Cycle International (UCI), the route will be lengthened from the current 50 kilometres to 55 kilometres, with each lap being about 11 kilometres.
The organisers said that UCI requirements stipulate a minimum lap of 11 kilometres for an international quality race. Moreover, instead of stages, a laps-race would be more suitable for a small place like Singapore.
After a successful race this year, the OCBC Cycle Singapore will return bigger and better next year.
Just like the Formula One, the route will showcase the Singapore cityscape.
"It is a bigger lap than the F1 distance. It will be in daylight, and it does give a challenge to the riders, and is quite tricky here and there too," said Alan Rushton, race planner, OCBC Cycle Singapore.
Half the route will see full road closures, while the rest will be partially closed.
Rushton, who has worked on races like the Tour de France and Tour de Langkawi, feels the island could stage a Tour de Singapore soon.
"We would like to do it; it is an aspiration over the coming years. The rate of growth if you like from one year to the second year, we have doubled the number of riders in the public rides. But the closures are quite enormous for something like that," said Rushton.
OCBC Cycle Singapore 2009 witnessed some 5,000 participants taking part in its inaugural year.
The Singapore Amateur Cycling Association said that the OCBC Cycle Singapore event next year will provide good training for its YOG athletes.
But the event will not be used as a qualifier, rather it will just be helpful as a performance gauge. This is because the road race constitutes just one aspect of the cycling competition at the YOG.
The Singapore Amateur Cycling Association added that the only way for it to use the OCBC event as a qualifier is if a separate category can be organised.
- CNA/sc
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