H.E. the President spoke at the Presidential Palace in Ai-Tarak Laran, Dili: “This year’s Tour de Timor will be the best yet. We are certainly grateful to all of our supporters. As the Tour matures and gains further recognition it is important that the private sector contribute to its ascendency in the region as the toughest bike race in Asia. Timor Telecom have continued to show their ongoing support of our events this year and for that I thank them.”

The Tour de Timor will have around 400 international and local riders who will test themselves over a gruelling 600 km, 6 day course that features the Eastern areas of Timor-Leste. With a cash prize pool of USD$ 100,000 the Tour de Timor is the richest in the region, attracting top level riders as well as many others who participate to see the country and its people.

Click here to ready full press release.

Now in its third year, the Tour de Timor has taken its rightful place in the annual sporting calendar for adventure cyclists in the southern hemisphere. The hybrid mountain bike race with a road bike format has just opened registrations for the 2011 race and limited spots are going fast. The Tour de Timor is a very unique event for peace hosted by President José Ramos-Horta and the Government of Timor-Leste and its gaining world acclaim and a great amount of interest.

In Dili today the President was pleased to introduce the race as registrations have opened online for the 2011 event. “The 2011 Tour de Timor is an auspicious occasion for this young nation. With the enormous success of the first and second iterations, it is fair to say that the Tour de Timor has become a memorable annual event on the calendar for both professional cyclists and tourists alike. Your presence in our country is eagerly awaited. The Tour de Timor is the most participated event of the year with thousands of Timorese in the cities, towns and most remote villages turning out daily on the streets to welcome you to their neighbourhoods and cheer on their riders. The standard of local riders is certainly rising every year; we were very proud of all 75 Timorese riders in 2010 especially the Da Costa brothers who regularly finished in the top ten. The 2011 Tour de Timor will display their hard work over the past 12 months and hopefully see our first podium finish. This year you will visit my childhood mountain village of Laclubar as well as the spectacular far East of the country. I am once again delighted to invite riders from around the world to join us, to experience the toughest mountain bike race in Asia, and to join us in celebrating peace for Timor-Leste. I wish you all the best of luck in training and throughout the race and hope that you embrace the motto for this years race “peace begins with me”. God bless you.” Dr José Ramos-Horta, President of the Republic of Timor-Leste.

Download the full Press Release here

“What’s the time?” von Hoff yelled as he fell off his bike at the finish. “How much have we got?” Well… unfortunately, not enough! AJ won the $US15,000 first prize!

Twenty-two year-old von Hoff, who is moving towards road racing and who aspires to compete in the Tour de France, won the final Stage in a blistering 1:52.48 but could not make up enough time to catch the battered and bruised “Yellow Jersey” 27-year-old Jackson, who was today third in 1:54.00 and who fell heavily near the end yesterday.

Von Hoff’s teammate Neil van der Ploeg came in second at 1:53.15 after helping him break away from Jackson and Ben Mather (5th) about 10 kilometres out.

“Pink Jersey” Rowena Fry who started the day 1:47.16 behind Jackson and 35 minutes 48 seconds in front of the next female, Naomi Hansen, played it safe to be the first woman home. She came in 16th overall with a time of 2:06.45.

Malaysian Shahrin Amir, 26, who was third overall at the start today, finished third in the overall Tour standings. He finished the stage seventh in 1:59.11. His fellow countryman Nor Shahriel Haizat Ahmad Nazali finished the stage 10th. Both ride in the Malaysian National Team.

The 2010 title probably belonged as much to Mather as he relentlessly led the way for as long as he could today. Mather, who is the Australian Mountain Bike Marathon Champion, has sacrificed his own race during the Tour to work with Jackson.

Jackson also took out the King of the Mountain competition with 110 points, with McConnell and von Hoff tied for second with 64 points.

Von Hoff and van der Ploeg were totally exhausted at the end as they tried to make up the needed seconds: “I’m absolutely spent. Absolutely done,” he said. “We attacked a lot and cleared the blocking game. Me and Dan (McConnell) put a big gap in before the last climb but they caught us on the descent.

“Then me and Mather were having a funny conversation as we thrashed ourselves. We were discussing the exact tactics of what was going on – but we weren’t hiding anything, it was just, you know, strongest man wins. And then I broke them.”

Jackson won the 2010 Otway Odyssey and his girlfriend Jo Williams is riding the race in the Trailmix Chix team.

The local crowd went crazy as the first Timor-Leste – Jacinto Da Costa – crossed the line in 2:05.53, 14th for the stage, to win $US2000 as the first local to finish. His brother Orlando came in 18th.

Fifteen-year-old dynamo David da Silva Goncalves, who is just 1.5 metres tall and weighs around 35 kilograms, finished strongly. He started the day number 20 in the Timor-Leste National Team rankings, 8:04.32 behind the leader. Goncalves is believed to have said he was 18 years of age on the entry form.

Von Hoff’s team, Felt, was always going to be a competitive unit. Each of the boys – von Hoff, van der Ploeg, Scott Liston and McConnell – came into this race touted as possible favourites. Undoubtedly each of the boys owe a great deal to the others for their high rankings. Unofficial results saw Felt finishing first in the team rankings, with Rapid Cycling and Ayup Australia coming 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Twenty-two year-old von Hoff, who is moving towards road racing and who aspires to compete in the Tour de France, won the final Stage in a blistering 1:52.48 but could not make up enough time to catch the battered and bruised “Yellow Jersey” 27-year-old Jackson, who was today third in 1:54.00 and who fell heavily near the end yesterday.

Von Hoff’s teammate Neil van der Ploeg came in second at 1:53.15 after helping him break away from Jackson and Ben Mather (5th) about 10 kilometres out.

“Pink Jersey” Rowena Fry who started the day 1:47.16 behind Jackson and 35 minutes 48 seconds in front of the next female, Naomi Hansen, played it safe to be the first woman home. She came in 16th overall with a time of 2:06.45.

For the full story and race results, go to Stage 5 Overview

You’ll probably need a certain type of twisted sense of humour to enjoy this yarn… See it’s about some of the crazies who are riding in the 2010 Tour de Timor Race for Peace. And apologies all round since most of these weirdos are Australians.

Actually, it concerns the names of the teams they ride under. Now while every participant in this year’s 420-kilometer tortuous race is no doubt dedicated and very serious (you’d have to be to do it), and they deserve nothing but admiration, some have a pretty laid-back approach to the race. And good on them! It makes us mortals feel good.

So to their team names!

As we have not had any reason to hose blood and guts off the roads (so far, and fingers crossed) we presume that Avoid the Truck Monster has lived up to its name. They’re probably the big wheels in town. And Timorese trucks really are monsters.

If you’re a bloke you will understand the next one – Numnuts. And after hours and hours in the saddle all of the male riders are well-qualified to be members of this team. One wonders what their girls’ team might be called.

Then there’s Cyclopaedias. No; you haven’t seen their names in the race report. But give them credit, they are here, literally hurting with the rest. We presume they are well-spoken.

Buckleys come from Melbourne, and yes, that’s exactly what chance they’ve got. They are the only team with LED lights on their bikes – for their late finishes. Probably Collingwood supporters!

Cunning Old Cyclists says it all, but you can’t be all that cunning to put an old body through five days of absolute agony. It probably refers to fact they travel in the sag wagon at the end of the day when they’re tyred! The Cog Smokers are probably hippies reliving their youth.

We bet the Dili Oz Sprouts really feel like vegetables at the end of the five days. The Lost Boys were probably that group that ended up in Indonesia. And we note that 3s Company, 4s a Crowd really does have just three members.

Now since all the competitors sleep in tents at the end of each day’s racing, Bike ‘n’ Beans makes the mind boggle. At least the mosquitoes would die. And all 320 riders are honorary members of Team Sweat.

We haven’t been able to speak to many of these exceptional people, and we don’t know all the stories behind the titles. So we hope with all our hearts that Missing Jessica is a happy name.

The 2010 Tour de Timor is considered the toughest mountain bike race in the world and is once again sponsored by Digicel. Contested over five days and 420-kilometres, more than 320 riders started out for this year’s $US100,000 in prizes. The race is an initiative of the Government and President of Timor-Leste and is part of a wide-ranging strategy to help reduce poverty throughout the nation by attracting adventurers and tourists.
You’ll probably need a certain type of twisted sense of humour to enjoy this yarn… See it’s about some of the crazies who are riding in the 2010 Tour de Timor Race for Peace. And apologies all round since most of these weirdos are Australians.

Actually, it concerns the names of the teams they ride under. Now while every participant in this year’s 420-kilometer tortuous race is no doubt dedicated and very serious (you’d have to be to do it), and they deserve nothing but admiration, some have a pretty laid-back approach to the race. And good on them! It makes us mortals feel good.

So to their team names!

As we have not had any reason to hose blood and guts off the roads (so far, and fingers crossed) we presume that Avoid the Truck Monster has lived up to its name. They’re probably the big wheels in town. And Timorese trucks really are monsters.

If you’re a bloke you will understand the next one – Numnuts. And after hours and hours in the saddle all of the male riders are well-qualified to be members of this team. One wonders what their girls’ team might be called.

Then there’s Cyclopaedias. No; you haven’t seen their names in the race report. But give them credit, they are here, literally hurting with the rest. We presume they are well-spoken.

Buckleys come from Melbourne, and yes, that’s exactly what chance they’ve got. They are the only team with LED lights on their bikes – for their late finishes. Probably Collingwood supporters!

Cunning Old Cyclists says it all, but you can’t be all that cunning to put an old body through five days of absolute agony. It probably refers to fact they travel in the sag wagon at the end of the day when they’re tyred! The Cog Smokers are probably hippies reliving their youth.

We bet the Dili Oz Sprouts really feel like vegetables at the end of the five days. The Lost Boys were probably that group that ended up in Indonesia. And we note that 3s Company, 4s a Crowd really does have just three members.

Now since all the competitors sleep in tents at the end of each day’s racing, Bike ‘n’ Beans makes the mind boggle. At least the mosquitoes would die. And all 320 riders are honorary members of Team Sweat.

We haven’t been able to speak to many of these exceptional people, and we don’t know all the stories behind the titles. So we hope with all our hearts that Missing Jessica is a happy name.

The 2010 Tour de Timor is considered the toughest mountain bike race in the world and is once again sponsored by Digicel. Contested over five days and 420-kilometres, more than 320 riders started out for this year’s $US100,000 in prizes. The race is an initiative of the Government and President of Timor-Leste and is part of a wide-ranging strategy to help reduce poverty throughout the nation by attracting adventurers and tourists.

Last year’s Tour de Timor winner Neil Van der Ploeg won Day 4 of the 2010 Tour de Timor Ride for Peace in a time of 2:39.57, as Yellow Jersey Adrian Jackson “AJ” crashed and lost a crucial 31 seconds to come in third.
Jackson (2:40.28) was not badly hurt in the crash but suffered extensive gravel rash, cuts and bruising.

The result sets up a fascinating final Stage with either von Hoff or Jackson the likely winner of the tour.

Once again Row Fry was the first female over the line in 3:06.46 and retains the Pink Jersey. She had a 30-minute lead at the start of this stage and it is hard to imagine any of the other women catching her.

For the full story and race results, go to Stage 4 Overview

His run of bad luck just had to end, and so it did as Australian Steele von Hoff avoided his usual cramps and crashes to be first in a thrilling one-second win over Adrian Jackson on Day 3 of the 2010 Tour de Timor Ride for Peace.

After being almost in sight of the Day 1 Balibo finish and cramping up so severely that he had to get off his bike and push it for about two kilometres, and then yesterday hitting a pot hole and crashing within 100 meters of the Suai line, von Hoff today finally had a trouble free run.

Tasmania’s Rowena Fry continued her amazing form as the first woman finishing in 2:45.12. She was the 13th rider to cross the finish line today.

Malaysia’s Shahrin Amir was third with countryman Nor Shariel Halzat Ahmad Nazall fourth. Jackson’s second keeps him in the Yellow Jersey for the Tour de Timor. Yesterday’s Stage winner Dan McConnell got a flat tyre and finished in 3:09.36.

For the full story and race results, go to Stage 3 Overview

Twenty-five year old Australian Dan McConnell snatched victory over the vicious Bobonaro Mountain Range on Day 2 of the 2010 Tour de Timor Ride for Peace after two punctures ruined the chances of yesterday’s stage winner Adrian Jackson (AJ).  And the bad luck didn’t stop with AJ.

Vicious pot-holes, near-vertical drop-offs, water from overnight rain and – simply – very, very bad tracks tested every rider and their equipment. Steele von Hoff, who cramped up minutes from the end yesterday, came off his bike at high speed just 100 metres from the finish today but still managed second.  AJ came in third.  McConnell finished in 3:45.20, with von Hoff one minute and 15 seconds away and AJ on 3:48.44.

Rowena Fry again led the women in, finishing 10^th in 4:23.05: “The way the hills were, I couldn’t really ride with the other girls. It made it a very individual kind of race,” Fry said. She is well ahead of her nearest female rider.

For the full story and race results, go to Stage 2 Overview