
After eight years (plus the test event in 2009) headquartered at the Nirwana Garden Resort, the Tour de Bintan moved its HQ to the Bintan Lagoon Resort this year. The switch brought benefits such as a direct ferry service to the resort from Singapore, a bigger accommodation capacity that allowed more racers to stay on site, nine food & beverage outlets to keep them sated, and a course revamp for the concluding Stage 3 on the Sunday morning that, tough as it was, was a resounding success with the competitors. Another big change for this year was the introduction of bonus seconds of 10, 6 and 4 at two sprint points in each of the two open road races. This had a considerable impact on the tactics and some of the general classification standings. Click on this link to read the full race report.