Teams of top domestic and oversea cyclists lined up in Chinese arch square in front of the temple, while. Hakka Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chou Chiang-chieh went to Fangliao Baozhongting Yimin Temple in Xinpu today (12th) to attend the opening ceremony of "Tour De Taiwan2024 - Romantic 3," encouraging everyone to cheer for Taiwanese and overseas competitors with the hope participants will challenge themselves and achieve great results.
Deputy Minister Chou said that today’s stage is the only one that spans three counties and cities in the Tour De Taiwan. Special thanks to Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, and Taichung City Governments for jointly organizing the “Tour De Taiwan2024 - Romantic 3” giving domestic and overseas competitors an opportunity to visit an important Hakka community area, commonly known as the "Neishan Road" and learn about Hakka culture. Today, the event was blessed by the Yimin God and the weather was breezy and sunny.
The "Tour De Taiwan2024" is a key event in the Asian Tour. It attracted 205 elite cyclists from 38 countries and 24 teams from around the world, including 6 level 2 professional teams, making this the best lineup in 10 years. "Romantic 3," the third stage of the race is 154.3 kilometers long and has a winding and challenging route. It is also the only stage to include counties and cities. This year, for the first time, the stage started at the Yimin Temple in Xinpu, Fangliao Baozhongting, which is a center of Hakka belief. Prior to the race participants visited the temple to pray everything goes well.
More than 50 groups of cheerleaders were invited to support and encourage the competitors along the route, showcasing Hakka lion dancing and tung flowers. After the opening ceremony, Deputy Minister Chou immediately went to the sprint point at Shangguan Elementary School to cheer the cyclists. In the afternoon, he visited Shigang Visitor Service Center to participate in the stage awards and closing ceremony. The stage winner was NIQUET-OLDEN Bentley from the Australian team Ccache x Par Kup, the overall event winner (yellow jersey) was Mason Hollyman from Israel Premier Tech, the points champion (green jersey) was Matteo MALUCELLI from the Japanese team JCL Team Ukyo, the king of the mountains (polka dot jersey) went to Antoine Debons from the Italian team Corratec, and the best Asian cyclist (blue jersey) was Yuma Koishi from JCL Team Ukyo.
The race was held from March 10-14, with 5 stages including Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Taiwan Romantic Route 3, Nantou County and Kaohsiung City. The event was broadcast live on the Era News Youtube network and on the Eurosport channel, presenting a top international event from a multiple perspectives, broadcasting the beauty of the lush greenery and majestic mountains to the world on Taiwan Route 3, and promoting the Hakka community on a global stage.
