JAKARTA, Sept.21 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian cyclist Reno Yudha Sasangka finished first at the second stage of the 2019 Tour de Siak in Riau province, still haze from forest fire forced committee to abort the third stage of the race, media reported on Saturday.
Reno clocked one hour, 51 minutes and 31 seconds to win the second stage, a 84.8km ride from Siak to Bunga Raya, Sel Apit, then back to Siak.
The second position was taken by Malaysian racer Aidan James and another Indonesian cyclist Abdul Gani was the third.
The organizing committee had to shorten the distance of the second stage due to thick haze resulted from forest fires, and announced to cancel the third stage due to the disturbance from haze.
"Due to unfavorable condition, I decide to cancel the 3rd stage," Sondi Sampurno, director of the competition of Tour de Siak said on Saturday.
The stoppage was undertaken after the racers started the third stage with route of Siak-Duyun-Buatan-Siak for about 20 kilometers.
"This is out of our control, the location of the forest fires are not here but the haze spread into here. We can not do anything to address this," he said, adding that the third stage will not be repeated if the weather situation keeps unfavorable.
For this year, the Tour de Siak is being held amid smoke resulted from forest fire in Riau province and other parts of Indonesia. Previously 16 teams registered in the race, but only 13 of them confirmed participation.
