Indonesian and Thai mountain bikers shine in gruelling cross-country race

Story by REDintern Noor Farhan. Pictures by REDintern Mai A Malek and Tan Jon Han/Red Sports

Tampines Mountain Bike Park, Saturday, May 29, 2010 — The two-day Singapore Mountain Bike Carnival 2010 held at the freshly-minted Mountain Bike Park in Tampines saw top riders battling it out in the junior women’s and men’s categories respectively.

In the junior women’s race, Indonesia’s Kharisma Novanda Elga fended off her Japanese and Thail counterparts to win the 15.5km race in sweltering conditions with a timing of 51 minutes and 5 seconds. Despite putting on a brave fight, Singapore’s Nur Nasthasia Nadiah Binte Abdul Nazeer had to drop out towards the end and did not finish.

In the men’s 21km event, Thai rider Satjakul Sianglam build an unassailable lead midway through, leaving his Kazakhstani and Japanese competitors trailing in his wake with a timing of 1:01:57. Singapore’s Daniel Koh managed a respectable 8th in a timing of 1:08:11.

The day’s event kicked off with the women’s race, which started vibrantly, with Thailand rider Siriluck Warapiang taking the lead in the first lap.

By the third lap of the five-lap race, Manami Iwade from Japan was already slowing down and was looking exhausted with Kharisma Novanda Elga going all out and taking advantage of the situation and trying to overtake, with much success.

As they came back to the start point going into the fourth lap, Thailand’s Warapiang was in the lead, with Manami Iwade and Kharisma Novanda fighting it out for second and third place at close to the half-hour mark.

Behind them were Wilhemina Tutuarima of Indonesia, who managed to pip Rimma Luchsenko of Kazakhstan for fourth spot right at the start line on 31 minutes.

Singapore’s Nur Nasthasia Nadiah Binte Abdul Nazeer, wearing bib #26, only begun her fourth lap at around 36 minutes into the race, but had to drop out towards the end.

Despite clocking the fastest lap in the third lap with a time of 10 minutes and 30 seconds, front-runner Warapiang from Thailand had to drop out of the race due to technical difficulties.

At the end of the fifth and final lap, Indonesia’s Kharisma Novanda Elga was in first place, followed by Japan’s Maname Iwade in 51:28, and Indonesia’s Wilhemina Tutuarima in third, with a timing of 51:48.

In the men’s 21km race, which consisted of seven laps around the mountain bike trail, Eric Andrianto of Indonesia took the early lead going into the upper and lower “hamburger” turns.

However Satjakul Sianglam of Thailand managed to overtake him going well into the first lap, eventually aceing that lap in first place with a timing of 8:25. He was followed by Nurlan Duisenov and Vadim Galayev, coming in second and third respectively, both of Kazakhstan.

By the third lap, the Thai rider had the lead, as his Kazakh opponents pedalled furiously to keep pace in second and third place. In was only in the fifth lap that Thai’s Satjakul Sianglam shifted into high gear, pulling very far away from Vadim Galayev to build an unassailable lead.

The sixth lap saw Nurlan Duisenov pulling out due to technical problems with his bike. Singaporean Aloysius Ng also dropped out at about 45 minutes into the race.

This meant Kazakh’s Galayev grabbed second place, one full minute behind race leader Sianglam. Going into the sixth lap, Japan’s Idomu Yamamoto took third place with only 11 riders left at that point in time.

Sianglam continued his strong showing, managing to clear the “raptor” turn at around 58 minutes, with no sight of the second-placed rider Galayev on the final lap.

The men’s race eventually concluded with Satjakul Sianglam claiming first place with a timing of 1:01:57, Kazakhstan’s Vadim Galayev in second place with a timing of 1:03:48 and Japan’s Idomu Yamamoto with a timing of 1:04 for the bronze medal.

“The weather has been very hot, the track was okay but unfortunately the competition today was very strong,” said Singaporean competitor Daniel Koh, 17, a first-year student at Republic Polytechnic. Daniel has been competing in mountain bike events for two years, having participated in the Kuala Lumpur carnival in 2008 and 2009.

Race Results

Junior Women’s Mountain Bike Cross-Country

1st — Kharisma Novanda Elga (Indonesia #31) — 51:05
2nd — Maname Iwade (Japan #27) — 51:28
3rd — Wilhemina Tutuarima (Indonesia #29) — 51:48
4th — Rimma Luschenko (Kazakhstan #28)
5th — Zahraa Anuawar (Malaysia #32)
6th — Nur Nasthasia Nadiah Binte Abdul Nazeer (Singapore #26)
7th — Siriluck Warapiang (Thailand #25)

Junior Men’s Mountain Bike Cross-Country

1st — Satjakul Sianglam, (Thailand #10) — 01:01:57
2nd — Vadim Galayev (Kazakhstan #13) — +00:01:48
3rd — Idomu Yamamoto (Japan #18) — +00:02:08
4th — Eric Andrianto, (Indonesia #16) — +00:03:03
5th — Jukrapech Wichana, (Thailand #11) — (+00:03:48)
6th — L.Lauridsen Adrian (Malaysia #3) — +00:03:51
7th — Khairul Abdullah (Malaysia #2) — +00:07:28
8th — Daniel Koh Jun Jie (Singapore #4) — +00:08:11
9th — Yance Oktavanius (Indonesia #17) — +00:08:11
10th — Ivan Tay Chin Seng (Singapore #8) — +00:09:47
11th — Joshua Png Zhi Jie (Singapore #6) — -1 Lap
12th — Tan En Yao (Singapore #7) — -2 Laps
13th — Aloysius Ng Siew Theng (Singapore #5) — -3 Laps
14th — Nurlan Duisenov (Kazakhstan #12) — DNF
15th — A.Fakhruddin Mazuki (Malaysia #1) — DNF
16th — Fikri Dewa S. (Indonesia #19) — DNF

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