CYCLING

Race official opens door for Kiwis to take the Taiwan KOM Challenge

By Aaron S Lee

The hardest sportive on the planet continues to grow, and Taiwan Tourism Deputy Director invites New Zealand cyclists to come join the fun...

TAIPEI—The Taiwan KOM Challenge announced on Tuesday at the race’s official press conference in Taipei, that 412 riders from 32 countries have signed up for the nation’s annual sportive on Friday (30 Oct) that French magazine Le Cycle labelled one of the world’s top 10 toughest bike races on the planet.

Of the nearly three-dozen nations represented, including Australia with eight riders – seven men and one woman, New Zealand is without a rider on the start list. That’s a stat that Taiwan Tourism Deputy Director Wayne Liu would like to change.

“We have great support from the Australians, but we would love to see our friends from New Zealand on the start line as well,” Liu told NZ Bike after the media event.



“There is no doubt in my mind that if the New Zealand cyclists would come to our race next year and make it to the top, they will fall in love with Taiwan.”

In the past, Australian elite riders, such as Tiffany Cromwell (Velocio-SRAM) and former Orica-GreenEdge rider Simon Clarke, who just signed with Cannondale-Garmin, have taken part in the race. This year the Taiwan KOM has attracted yet another elite field including current Vuelta a España mountains classification winner Omar Fraile (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), who will be joining Aussies Nathan Haas and Mark Renshaw, along with Briton’s Mark Cavendish on Team Dimension Data – formerly known as MTN-Qhubeka – in 2016.

Three time Tour of Taiwan mountains classification winner and reigning Taiwan national champion Chun-kai Feng (Lampre-Merida) returns for his fourth crack at the KOM, along with reigning two-time men’s winner John Ebsen (One Pro Cycling). Canadian adventure race icon Marg Fedyna returns to defend the elite women’s title won last year as well.

Boasting more than 200 mountains above 3,000 metres in elevation, the 105-km non-UCI event starts in the coastal town of Qixingtan and rises to Wuling at 3,275 metres with gradients peaking at more than 27 per cent toward the summit top at Mount Hehuan – Taiwan’s tallest mountain accessible by road.

In just its fourth year, Liu is adamant that his interest in UCI classification remains strong and the Taiwan KOM would provide another viable opportunity for cycling’s governing body to further expand its racing footprint into Asia.

“We had hoped that we could persuade the UCI to send representation to this year’s race and see for themselves that this is a great event,” concluded Liu. “While the success of the race does not rely on the UCI’s involvement, their support would cast more eyes onto Taiwan and open the door to even more elite athletes.



“We want the UCI to know we are here, but it is more important for us to continue building cycling in Taiwan and sharing that commitment with the world.”

Aaron S. Lee is a cycling and triathlon columnist for Eurosport and a guest contributor to NZ Bike Magazine