Tour coming home
You have watched the Tour de France. You have probably even watched the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana. You have seen moments of glory, of human endurance and excellence; you have even seen amazing falls from grace. And you have felt the adrenaline pump through your veins when Alberto Contador or Chris Froome sprinted to victory to thousands of adoring spectators at the Champs Elysees. But you have only seen it on TV.
Not anymore. Now you can watch such heart pumping moments live, on your roads, in Bangladesh. Yes. Thanks to the joint initiative of Bangladesh Edible Oil Limited (BEOL) and Bangladesh Cycling Federation (BCF), a cycling race styled after the world renowned Tour de France is coming to Bangladesh this month.
Titled Fortune Tour de Bangladesh, this cycling race will feature around 40 of the best cyclists from all over the country, all registered under the BCF, who will be competing for ten teams, including teams from districts, services and armed forces. A three-year venture initially, the first edition will be held on December 20, 21 and 23 and will cover an area of approximately 194 kilometres.
Organisers disclosed these tidbits of information at a glitzy event where the logo of the event was unveiled, alongside a small cycling demonstration at a hotel in the capital last night. “We want to take the amateurish pursuit of cycling to a competitive level while at the same time highlighting tourism of the country. That is what drove us to organise the Fortune Tour de Bangladesh, which will be a unique sports event for our country,” said Shoeb Mohammad Asaduzzaman, head of marketing and sales of sponsors BEOL, after a presentation on the event.
Organisers informed that the race would be held over three days and over three legs: the first leg starting from Bagerhat and finishing in Gopalganj on December 20, followed by Gopalganj to Kewrakandi the following day. After a rest day, the final leg will be held at Hatirjheel in Dhaka. Even though the cyclists will represent teams, they will be awarded individual awards, with Tk 3,00,000, Tk 2,00,000 and Tk 1,00,000 for the top three finishers and Tk 25,000 each for the next seven finishers. There will also be monetary awards based on each day's performance, speakers informed.
While this year will be the launching of the event and will feature only national cyclists, the next two years, according to the organisers, will feature cyclists from across SAARC countries as well as other parts of the world as the scope, prize money and track length will increase considerably.
Inam Ahmed, general manager of BEOL, said Fortune and cycling hope to remain associated for years to come, and this year's tour is just the first step in that regard.
Mizanur Rahman Manu, president of BCF, said that cycling is an entertaining and attractive sport which is also a way to a healthy lifestyle, and he hoped that through this event cycling would gain more popularity as a sport in Bangladesh.
Segments of the event will be telecast on TV channels, the organisers also informed.
Comments