Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/30
By: Wang Shu-fen and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Oct. 30 (CNA) French cyclist Damien Frederic Monier has emerged as the winner of the 2015 Taiwan KOM (King of the Mountains) Challenge and the race’s NT$1 million (US$30,733) first prize, the Tourism Bureau said Friday.

Monier finished the race in 3:34:19.

Among Taiwanese cyclists, Feng Chun-kai (馮俊凱) topped the standings in 3:39:43. His overall ranking was seventh.

Now in its fourth year, the grueling one-day 105-kilometer race took cyclists through the mountains of central Taiwan.

Starting from the Qixingtan scenic area along the coast of Hualien County, it then climbed 87 kilometers via the breathtaking Taroko Gorge to a 3,275-meter peak in Wuling near Hehuan Mountain, the highest point in Taiwan accessible by public roads.     [FULL  STORY]