Seoul Hosts 1st Int’l Cycling Meet Despite Rain

Seoul yesterday hosted its first international cycling event despite heavy rain, with a city worker winning the inaugural title.

Cho Ho-seong, 35, prevailed in the Tour de Korea International Cycle Competition jointly hosted by the Seoul Korea Cycling Federation and The Dong-A Ilbo in a tough battle against 109 cyclists from 10 nations.

The course spanning 100.5 kilometers began at Gwanghwamun Plaza in downtown Seoul and ended at the main building of The Dong-A Ilbo in the same area via major intersections and roads in the city.

Cho won with a time of two hours, 17 minutes and five seconds, beating by just two seconds runner-up Dirk Mueller of Germany, 36. Third place also went to a German, Janorschke Grisha, 22, with a time of two hours, 17 minutes and nine seconds.

The event was the first international race of its kind in the history of Korean cycling hosted by the capital, and the first cycling event held in the city center in 40 years.

Dong-A had hosted a cycling race between 1968 and 1997 with the starting points of its first and second events in 1969 at Gwanghwamun.

Elite cyclists entered the race with tactics to wear their competing teams down.

Returning as an amateur cyclist, Cho showed a magnificent performance at the end of the race. Though behind Mueller and Grisha at the Gongdeok intersection by 15 meters, he put on a spurt a kilometer shy of the finish line and caught up with his competitors just half a kilometer from the end. He was met with great applause at the finish line.

To make the race more exciting, runner René Obst of Germany, 32, outran Kim Yeong-wook of Korea, 20, as the “hot sprinter,” or the fastest runner to complete the first 43 kilometers of the course.

In the meantime, more than one hundred competitors took part in the 20-kilometer master’s race beginning from Gwanghwamun Plaza and finishing at Ttukseom district at the Hangang Civic Park, and cycled their way through the rain.

yjongk@donga.com