| Fadhil Yunus |
THE Brunei Darussalam Cycling Federation will organise the inaugural Brunei Grand Prix 2018 in conjunction with the 72nd birthday celebration of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam on August 19.
The event organised in collaboration with A Works Event Management and supported by the Youth and Sports Department, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, will be divided into two categories – 127km and the 100km.
The starting and finishing points of the race will be along the vicinity of the National Tennis Centre of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex.
The race, which is expected to attract 500 cyclists, will start at 8am for the 127km category while the 100km will be flagged off at 8.10am.
“Over the last few years, Brunei Darussalam has witnessed a growing trend of Bruneians taking up cycling activities especially now that it is being called a national hobby. It is one of the most popular sports especially since Tour de Brunei which was organised in 2011 and the involvement of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam,” said Sheikh Idham bin Sheikh Abas, during a press conference at the Lecture Theatre of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium yesterday.
“Over the years and last few months, cycling events, not just this one but others, have been taken notice among the people of Brunei.”
Among the objectives of the event are to improve the quality and performance of local riders and to foster closer relationship among the participants, cycling enthusiasts and the organisers as well as to promote cycling as an active and healthy lifestyle among the society in the country.
As part of the CSR, 10 per cent of collection from the registration fees will be donated to Pusat Ehsan Al-Ameerah Al-Hajjah Maryam.
Nanofresh will be recognised as the official drinking water and they will be providing water throughout the event with a total of 4,000 bottles of 600 millilitres.
Takaful Brunei Am will also be sponsoring the race pack which will be collected during the race pack collection day tentatively three days before the start of the event.
Grand Motors through its brands such as Citroen, Mazda and Kia, will be providing six cars throughout the event for the purpose of marshal.
For the Elite and Master Category, the race will cover a distance of 127km while for the Men’s Veteran A, Men’s Veteran B, Women’s Open, Men’s Junior and Men’s Open will cover 100km.
There will also be a qualification for overall team from first to fifth place, overall riders with the winner’s jersey, King of the Mountain and intermediate sprint.
For the team event, a rider must possess a full UCI licence and for the 100km, registered riders can obtain their one-day licence.
A technical briefing for the riders and teams will be held on August 18 with the venue to be announced at a later date.