The Tour de Pakistan is a bicycle race

Bicycle racing

Bicycle racing is a competition sport in which various types of bicycles are used. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, bike trials, and cycle speedway. Bicycle racing is recognised as an Olympic sport...

 held in Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 roughly every two years over more than 1648 kilometres (1,024 mi).It is modelled after the Tour de France

Tour de France

The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

. The race begins in Karachi

Karachi

Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

 and ends in
Peshawar

Peshawar

Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....

. It is the longest cycling race in Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

. The event used to be is 22 stages long and 2200 kilometre in length, but in 2007 it was reduced to 1648 kilometre and 11 stages.

History

The Pakistan Cycling Federation wanted to promote road cycle racing, as most of it’s focus had been on track cycling. Thus the formation of the Tour de Pakistan, based on the Tour de France, it would give the opportunity to test Pakistani cyclists. The gruelling event became on of the longest and toughest in Asia which has seen international teams compete alongside a Pakistani teams. The current prize money is $10,000 which is shared out between the top six.

2007

In 2007, the 13th Tour de Pakistan was won by New Zealand cyclist Robin Reid for Discovery Channel Marco Polo Team, with fellow Kiwi Justin Kerr for New Zealand National Team was overall second and Canadian Mathew Usborne riding for Team Integrale in third. WAPDA won the team event of the race ahead of Army and SSCG team.

2008

In 2007, the 14th Tour de Pakistan was won by Naimat Ali from Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC). Runner-up was Haroon-ur-Rashid for WAPDA while Sri Lanka’s Meemanaga Perera for Team Sri Lanka third position in the competition.

2010

The 15th Tour de Pakistan started on March 1, 2010 participated by cyclists from different teams of Pakistan and Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

. Zahid Gulfam of WAPDA won the race by covering distance of 1,655 km in 46 hours 13 minutes and 9 seconds and received US$ 2,500. Nisar Ahmed got second position and got US$ 1,500 while third position holder Hashmatullah of Afghanistan received US$ 1,000. Fourth to sixth finishers received US$ 750 each.

Winners

Name	Nationality	Team	Year
Haroon Rashid		WAPDA Cycling	2001
Zahid Gulfam		WAPDA Cycling	2003
Thomas Lodburaey		German Team	2005
Robin Reid Robin Reid (cyclist) Robin Neil Reid is a former road racing cyclist from Blenheim, New Zealand who was a New Zealand time trial champion and Olympian. He won the Tour de Pakistan race in 2007.-External links:*...		Discovery Channel	2007
Naimat Ali		SSCG Cycling	2008
Zahid Gulfam		WAPDA Cycling	2010
Sabir Ali		WAPDA Cycling	2011

External links

• Comments and a Picture on Tour de Pakistan
• 2007 results
• Marco Polo Team on the Tour de Pakistan 2007 and other Pakistani cycling events
• 2008 Tour de Pakistan
• 2003 Tour de Pakistan
• 2005 Tour kicks off
• German wins 2005 tour
• That French Bike Race Might Seem Easy Compared to This One Wall Street Journal, April 6, 2011