The 2017 Taiwan King of the Mountain (KOM) Cycling Race takes place in Hualien on the 20th. This year, the women’s champion prize has reached a new high of NT$500,000, and the field includes the strongest riders ever. Britain’s Emma Pooley, who recently achieved four consecutive world titles in duathlon, will go head-to-head with Japan’s Yumiko Yoshida, the 2013 and 2015 champion, and Germany’s Claudia Lichtenberg, winner of the Giro Rosa, for the single crown.
The Taiwan KOM Challenge will begin at 6:00 AM on October 20, starting from Qixingtan in Hualien and ascending directly to Wuling at 3,275 meters above sea level. This year, the women’s division has a record 50 participants, and the total prize money is NT$2.41 million. For the first time, the men’s and women’s champions will be awarded equal prize money of NT$500,000 each.
The 35-year-old defending champion, Britain’s Emma Pooley, won silver in the women’s individual time trial at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, placed fourth in the 2009 Giro Rosa, and took bronze in the 2010 UCI Road World Championships time trial. But this year, she faces tough competition from 26-year-old Japan’s Yumiko Yoshida and Germany’s Claudia Lichtenberg.
Yumiko Yoshida is a champion in Japanese road racing, time trials, and mountain cross-country events, as well as a skilled triathlete. She won the race in her first visit to Taiwan in 2013 with a time of 4 hours, 16 minutes, and 12 seconds, and claimed victory again in 2015 with a time of 4 hours, 3 minutes, and 29 seconds.
Also not to be overlooked is Germany’s Claudia Lichtenberg of the Wiggle High5 Pro Cycling team, who won the 2009 Giro Rosa and the 2014 La Route de France. At 32, she plans to make the Taiwan KOM her final race before retiring from professional cycling, and she is also among the top contenders for the women’s title.
In preparation for the Taiwan KOM, traffic controls will be in place: from 5:30 to 7:00 AM on the elevated bridge from Provincial Highway 193 near Qixingtan to Xincheng Township; from 6:00 to 7:30 AM on the old Provincial Highway 9 from the northern end of Taroko Bridge to the northern end of Jinwen Bridge; from 6:30 to 8:00 AM on Provincial Highway 8 from the Taroko Entrance to Tianxiang; from 7:00 to 12:00 on Provincial Highway 8 from Tianxiang to Dayuling; from 8:30 to 12:00 on Provincial Highway 14A from Dayuling to the Hehuan Mountain Visitor Center; and from 9:00 to 10:30 on Nantou Provincial Highway 14A from Cuifeng to the Hehuan Mountain Visitor Center.