JAKARTA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Thomas Lebas, a French cyclist racing for Kinan Cycling Team from Japan, won an international cycling championship held in Indonesia's eastern province of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) after booking the fastest time in the event.
Lebas clocked 19 hours, 38 and 21 seconds from six stages contended in 2017 Tour de Flores, earning him the yellow jersey of the championship which ended on Wednesday.
"This race is very interesting. Neck-to-neck competition among the cyclists persisted until the last stage," Lebas said after receiving 45 million rupiah (about 3,380 US Dollars) in prize money.
Philippine cyclist Marcelo Felipe from 7/11 team secured the runner-up position, followed by Iranian cyclist Arvin Moazamigodarzi from Pishgaman team.
Marcelo earned blue jersey after he was announced the best Southeast Asian cyclist in the championship. Meanwhile, Indonesian cyclist Muhammad Imam Arifin from KFC team earned white jersey after he obtained the host country's best cyclist title.
The best sprinter title was awarded to South Korean cyclist Hyeongmin Choe from Geumsan Insan Cello team, making him entitled to get green jersey. Spanish cyclist Edgar Nohales Nieto earned the polkadot jersey for winning the best cyclist for upward tracks.
"The race should resume next year. We have to keep our spirit to make it happen in the following year," said Head of Indonesian Cycling Sports Association (ISSI) Raja Sapta Oktohari.
The Tour de Flores, sanctioned by Swiss-based world's cycling sports organization of Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), was in its second edition.
The championship, which has over 720 kilometer challenging route, feature 96 cyclists from 11 countries and regions this year.
