S’pore Cycling Federation apologises for ‘oversight’ after National C’ship is rescheduled
The Singapore Cycling Federation (SCF) has apologised and pledged to review its processes after it was forced to postpone the OCBC National Championship – Individual Time Trial (ITT) due to an “oversight”.
On June 9, the SCF announced on social media that the event has been rescheduled from June 25 to Sept 3, leaving some participants angry and frustrated.
“We have not been able to secure the required road permits and approvals from the relevant governmental authorities to hold the ITT,” said the SCF.
“This failure is due to an oversight on the part of the SCF and immediate actions have been taken to address the issue so that it is not repeated for the Team Time Trials scheduled for Aug 6.”
SCF told the Straits Times it has already filed the required documents for the ITT to be held along the Tanah Merah Coast Road on Sept 3 and will provide progress updates to participants.
Those who are unable to make the new date can email shermaine.lee@singaporecycling.org.sg for a refund of their entry fee, which ranges from $80 to $215.
The National Championships are organised for competitive cycling enthusiasts and national athletes.
In the ITT, the riders set off individually at regular intervals (30sec to 1min). The cyclist who completes the course in the fastest time is the winner. There are various categories for different age groups, as well para cyclists.
Lee Yi Hung, one of more than 80 riders who had already signed up, was frustrated by the postponement.
The 19-year-old told ST: “At least they have accepted responsibility, but the general feeling is how can they mess up such an important thing like this?
“It feels like all my training has gone to waste because there is very specific training that goes behind preparing for ITT that focuses on 30 to 40 minute bursts of power as compared to three to four hours of endurance for road rides. The rescheduling also means I won’t be able to consider other races or triathlons during the same time period.”
SCF general manager Mahipal Singh shared that stakeholders such as the Singapore Police Force, Land Transport Authority, Singapore Navy – Changi Naval Base is situated at Tanah Merah Coast Road – and construction firms doing works along the stretch had to be engaged as part of the approval process.
He explained: “Planning for each year’s event actually starts the previous year... we have to submit our applications for permits and approvals to the local authorities at least five weeks before the event date. On this, there was a misstep on our part and we were late in one aspect of the entire road closure approval process, which meant we could not get approval in time to make the event happen on June 25.
“We are sorry for the lapse and I made it a point to call every registrant – failing which, their club captains or managers – personally to notify them of the situation and to apologise to them.”
He added that the SCF has “reviewed our processes internally and will refine them so that this does not happen again”.
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