Jiwari (left) and Irwan Zulkarnain unveiling the SIMBC banner.
KUCHING: Up to 300 local and foreign participants are due to tackle the Siol International Mountain Bike Challenge (SIMBC) 2016.
Organised by Dewan Badaraya Kuching Utara (DBKU), SIMBC will be held at the Mountain Bike (MTB) Track, Bukit Siol, in Petra Jaya from Nov 4-6.
Speaking at the launch of the event yesterday, Commission member of DBKU Irwan Zulkarnain Muhammad Hasbie said they were expecting riders from Japan, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, Timor Leste, the Philippines and Kazahkstan.
A total of RM78,905 in prize money are offered for the event which will feature three categories – downhill (men’s elite, women’s elite and men’s masters); cross country or XCO (men’s elite, women’s elite, UCI XCO series, Junior UCI XCO, men masters and Sarawak Closed) and team relay.
“The race will be run according to the rules and regulations set by Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI),” Irwan Zulkarnain revealed.
Siol Mountain Bike Challenge has been an annual affair since it started in 2003. In July 2015, DBKU applied to UCI to sanction the event under category 3 classification.
SIMBC is now included in the UCI calendar of events with the added honour of hosting the junior XCO world series which is organised in Europe, Australia, Africa, America and Asia.
For the Asian Mountain Bike Series 2016, SIMBC will host the final.
Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) is the main sponsor of the event.
SEB chief executive officer Datuk Torstein Dale Sjotvelt said Sarawak Energy was happy to work with DBKU and support this sporting activity for the second year.
“We note that mountain biking is gaining popularity as an adventure sports activity in Kuching and the interest is steadily increasing every year.
The text of his speech was read by Sarawak Energy head of CSR Jiwari Abdullah.