Craig March 17th, 2008
The final stage of the 2008 Tour de Taiwan was a 60 lap criterium around Taipei City Hall. The race was opened by Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (éƒé¾æ–Œ) who led the VIP ride before the race itself began. The stage was won by Polish cyclist Marek Wesoly of Merida Europe Team in a time of 1:22:10.
Craig March 17th, 2008
Stage 7 of the Tour de Taiwan saw riders engaged in a 58km criterium made up of 40 laps in the streets around the new Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center (å°åŒ—世界貿易ä¸å¿ƒå—港展覽館). The newly built exhibition center was holding its first event, the Taipei Cycle Show. An action packed stage, featuring fast racing, a number of breakaways and numerous crashes, was won by Kam Po Wong of the Hong Kong Pro Cycling Team, giving him his second stage win of the tour.
Craig March 12th, 2008
Stage 3 of the Tour de Taiwan (國際自由車環å°è³½) was held on March 11th in Changhua (彰化) county, starting and finishing at Baguashan (å…«å¦å±±). Going into the day, John Murphy held the leaders yellow jersey and Merida Europe were the leading team after Wesoly Marek’s win in stage two. Unlike the first two stages, the Baguashan stage was a road stage with riders taking on a 117.4km route through Changhua county.
Craig March 10th, 2008
The Tour de Taiwan (國際自由車環å°è³½) is a professional cycling race and is the tenth race on the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) 2007-08 Asian tour. UCI is the world governing body for professional cycling with headquarters in Switzerland. The 2008 Tour de Taiwan feaures eight stages, beginning with a 40 lap, 88km criterium around the Love River, Kaohsiung and ending with a 60km criterium in Taipei.
Craig December 17th, 2007
The 2007 ING Taipei International Marathon was held in the streets of Taipei yesterday, December 16th. A record 110 000 runners took part in the various races, with 22 000 running in the full marathon. Kenya’s Hillary Bett won the international mens division in a time of 2:17:01, finishing ahead of Tanzania’s Disdery Hombo (2:17:35) and fellow Kenyan Elijah Chemwolo (2:18:03). Zimbabwe’s Tabitha Tsatsa took the womens prize with a time of 2:33:01, with Kenya’s Anne Chelagat at 2:38:19 and Merima Benboba, also from Zimbabwe, at 2:49:14.
In the domestic competition, Wu Wen-chien won the mens in a time of 2:32:13 and Hsu Yu-fang the womens, posting a time of 2:50:45.
Bett, a 27 year old farmer competing in his third professional marathon, received NT$666 666 (US$20 000). He said afterwards, ” I am very happy because I just turned pro in April and this is my third marathon since then. I will use part of the money for training and part of it to buy land to plant tea.”
Tsatsa also won NT$666 666 as winner of the womens section, plus received an additional NT$1million (US$30 000) for breaking the Taiwan record by almost 7 minutes. She said, “I will rest for a while and then will start preparing for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.”
Wu Wen-chien and Hsu Yu-fang both received NT$100 000 for being the first Taiwanese runners to finish.
The marathon attracted runners from 40 different countries, including a group of sumo wrestlers from Japan. As well as the 42.195km marathon, there was a 21km half marathon, 9km road run, 3km fun run and a 1km children’s run.
Organizers estimated the event would generate up to NT$200 million worth of economic benefits for Taiwan in transportation, food, accommodation, and other services. A team of 2000 volunteers was on hand to assist in the smooth running of the event, as well as 20 doctors and 50 nurses.
