The jam-packed first half of the 2017 Singapore cycling season came to an exciting end yesterday with the fourth edition of the URA CFS Share the Road Criterium.

Race organisers Cycosports opted for a team format for the fourth installment of the monthly crit, and while the record books will show that quartets from Team West Coast Racing, the Specialized Roval Mavericks and the colourfully named Alibaba And His Three Thieves were the winning teams on the day, once again, local cycling itself was the biggest winner.

Despite the 6am start, a sizeable crowd of cyclists and supporters from Singapore’s thriving road-racing community were in attendance and they were rewarded with four thrilling contests.

The URA CFS Share the Road Criterium takes place as part of Car Free Sunday, a government initiative that sees a large swathe of the roads in the central business district closed to motorised traffic.

Go to www.secondwindmagazine.com to read the full race report.

Goh Choon Huat (Terengganu Cycling Team) held off a gutsy challenge from fellow Singaporean Yi Peng Teoh (Specialized Roval Mavericks) and the hard-charging peloton to clinch the 2017 OCBC Cycle Singapore National Road Racing Championships on Sunday.

In the Women’s race, Luo Yiwei (National Training Squad) defended the title she won last year, pipping fellow national team rider Serene Lee (CyclingTraining.Asia) in the sprint.

Torrential rain hit the Seletar North Link circuit about an hour before the prestigious Men’s Open race was due to start, prompting fears the road race would go the same way as the national time trial championships two weeks earlier which had to be cancelled due to a violent thunderstorm.

But while Sunday’s main event was plagued by intermittent heavy rain, the lightning that caused the ITT champs to be called off, stayed far enough away that the racing could continue.

Read the full race report here or at www.secondwindmagazine.com.

For the past nine months Flat Spoke Media has been on hiatus as we concentrated our editorial efforts in a collaboration with Second Wind Magazine. But now it's time to get Flat Spoke Media rolling again so look out for race reports, travel stories and miscellaneous features on the world of cycling. In addition to writing new material, we'll be uploading some of the articles we've published for Second Wind Magazine since August.

May 22, 2017
While Mark Jansen and Jenny Zenker recorded dominant victories in the centrepiece Olympic Distance events last weekend, an amazing edition of the 2017 Bintan Triathlon contained many more headline stories, including a finish-line marriage proposal, a swim-bike-run debut for Indonesia’s top F1 driver and a remarkable triple win for the famous Middleditch family.

Three days of hard racing and family fun at Asia’s No. 1 multisports festival began last Friday afternoon as the competitors and their supporters began to arrive at the tranquil Nirwana Gardens Resort, the festival’s traditional home on the beautiful Indonesian island of Bintan.

Click here to read the full race report. This article also appears in www.bintantriathlon.com.

May 16, 2017

The 2017 Cycosports Tour de Barelang was as hard as any edition of the one-day classic but Kristan Snorrason (CyclingTraining.Asia) made the 130km sufferfest look easy on Saturday, soloing to a famous victory from 40km out in the elite Cat 1 contest. In the Women’s race, Andrea Ferschel (Anza Cycling) defended the title she won in 2016, beating Jeynelle Lee (Integrated Riding Racing Team) in the sprint up the iconic Barelang Bridge.

The majority of the 270 Tour de Barelang competitors arrived on the Indonesian island of Batam from Singapore via the two chartered ferries that event owner Cycosports traditionally hires. Joining the day-trippers at the main plaza in Batam City for the race start was a significant contingent of Indonesian riders. While the Cycosports races cater mainly to the Singapore cycling community, it’s heartening to see the growth in number of riders from Batam, Bintan and even Jakarta signing up.

Follow this link to read the full race report or check it out at www.secondwindmagazine.com.

Singapore’s best racers against the clock gathered at the Seletar North Link circuit on Sunday for the 2017 OCBC Cycle National Road Time Trial Championships, and while most of the new national ITT champions were determined, none were crowned and the main contest for the Men’s Open was cancelled as a short but violent storm swept through the venue late in the morning.

Singapore’s best racers against the clock gathered at the Seletar North Link circuit on Sunday for the 2017 OCBC Cycle National Road Championships, and while most of the new national ITT champions were found, none were crowned as a short but violent storm swept through the area forcing the cancellation of the Men’s Open race and the postponement of the awards ceremony.

The Women’s Open contest was also affected, being called off mid-race as the storm fired out barbs of lightning directly above the racecourse. But with all of the women having completed three laps of the 6.25km circuit out of a scheduled four before the cancellation, the decision was made to settle the contest on the times at the three-quarter mark, with Luo Yiwei (Singapore NTS) emerging as the new national champion.

Click on this link to read the full race report.