Loop Magazine Vol.7

VELODROME OR NOT

With the tearing down of the 37-year-old iconic National Stadium in Kallang to make way for the new Sports Hub, many of our local sports enthusiasts, novices and professionals alike, are wondering what is line when the project is fully completed.

In four years’ time, the Sports Hub will include a new stadium with a 55,000-capacity and a retractable roof, a 6,000-capacity indoor aquatics arena, a multi-purpose indoor arena that can seat 3,000, a sports institute and 41,000 square metres of business, commercial and retail space.

Recently, the Singapore sports scene has been enjoying the limelight after the successful inaugural Youth Olympics and also at many other international competitions, crediting to the efforts put in by Mr Teo Ser Luck, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports.

What Singapore is trying to do now is promote a healthy and sporting lifestyle amongst her population, and also at the same time explore multiple disciplines which we can possibly excel at international levels.

We have seen success in table tennis, badminton, swimming, sailing and many others. However, cycling as a sport has yet to received sufficient support from the Singapore Sports Council.

Asians have seen success in many track events owing to the excellent, quality training programmes. The Malaysians and, needless to say, Japaneses have been enjoying track success for quite a while. The asian body is ideal for cycling, lean and mean.

Plans to send a Winter Olympic team, build a white-water rafting course, then why not build a velodrome too? I’m sure Singapore can send a decent team to a UCI Track Championship or the Olympics in less than 4 years if there’s a velodrome for us to train in.

Henceforth, I strongly urge the SSC to put more attention into developing the cycling scene in Singapore.

Velodrome or not, you decide!

Retrospective of the tour stage 8

Read more of the pride and punishment at Velodramatic. J.

Tour de Singapore in the near future?

He loves sport, and has competed in triathlons and ironman races, there is little doubt Teo Ser Luck, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, is passionate about cycling.

While he hopes the Republic can host a race like Malaysia’s 10-stage, 1,300km annual Le Tour de Langkawi, the limited land area will pose a challenge. But Mr Teo believes “anything is possible”.

Speaking to MediaCorp in a phone interview on Wednesday, he said: “I’m hoping that both the SSC (Singapore Sports Council) and organisers (of the OCBC Cycle Singapore), with their experience, will have the opportunity to look at an event of a higher stage, one that’s more challenging like a Tour de Singapore.

“Unlike the Tour de France, it will have to be done in an innovative way due to the constraints. Organising a tour with a very long distance beyond 100km, they’ll have to figure that out. It will be a logistical challenge, but not impossible. Even a joint thing with Malaysia is possible.”

World champion Australian cyclists Cameron and Travis Meyer believe Singapore has the ability to host elite racing events. The brothers, who ride with the Garmin-Transitions team, will be in town with fellow Aussie Luke Durbridge to promote the Tour de Bintan (Oct 15 to 17) and conduct workshops here on Oct 13 and 14.

Speaking to MediaCorp via a conference call from Spain, Travis, the 21-year-old world junior champion (2006, 2007), said: “I think the Tour De Bintan is a good start and from what I saw when I raced in the Singapore criterion (OCBC Cycle Singapore), it was well organised. I didn’t expect the event to be so good.

“I think it’s only a matter of time before Singapore holds a really big tour like a Tour De Singapore.”

The sport has featured prominently in the Meyer family, with 22-year-old Cameron – who won three gold medals at this year’s world championships – crediting Australia’s cycling programme for producing world-class cyclists.

The brothers will head to the New Delhi Commonwealth Games next month with a 27-strong Aussie cycling squad. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia topped the cycling medal tally with 11 gold, eight silver and five bronze medals.

“We have been brought up through the Australian Cycling Programme which is a very professional programme and one of the best in the world, so we have taken all the right steps,” said Cameron, who finished fourth in the points race at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

“We have instituted level and the local bigger cycling clubs where they really teach you the right steps and help you become better riders. It is the stepping stone in cycling Australia.”

Cameron, Travis and Durbridge are event ambassadors for the inaugural Tour de Bintan. The three-stage, 268km race will see around 450 participants competing in three categories for a total prize purse of $10,000.

From MediaCorp iToday.

PARAGON

This video fully demonstrates the epitome of riders & pedestrians relationship.

No doubt both parties were in the wrong, but it is the way that the incident was handled which got me hoping that the relationship between riders, pedestrians & motorists will eventually be like this in the future to come.

Riders, next time when you’re out riding, do remember to set a good example and portray yourself as a responsible cyclist.

Let’s work together & make the road a safer & more tolerable place for its users.

CELESTE #227

Singapore Laws on Cycling

Calling all readers, please take some time off to familiarize yourselves with the Road Traffic Act pertaining to cycling on the road.

It is key to understand what is expected of you on the roads so as to ensure both your safety as well as the other road users.

***Do re-post it on your blog or Facebook so that your friends can be in the know too.