Singapore Cycling Federation apologises for second deferral of key race due to ‘oversight’, vows to improve after backlash

SINGAPORE, June 14 — The Singapore Cycling Federation (SCF) has pledged to improve its processes after apologising for the second postponement of a major cycling event, leaving a number of affected participants angry.

SCF general manager Mahipal Singh told TODAY yesterday that it is planning a town hall event to discuss 2024 events and seek feedback from affiliate cycling clubs as the postponement “is as painful and demoralising for us as it is for the riders”.

Complaints from participants in the OCBC National Championships 2023 individual time trial poured in after the race’s second deferral was announced on SCF’s Instagram and Facebook pages last Friday.

The announcement by the national sports association informed participants that the event would be postponed from June 25 to Sept 3 owing to its own oversight in not securing required road permits and approvals from the relevant government agencies.

The announcement also gave the option for a refund for participants who could no longer attend the race on the new date.

The race had previously been postponed from its original date of June 18 to June 25 owing to construction work at the race’s intended location.

The race, held across various categories of riders, involves participants setting off on a 10-km lap at regular intervals. The winners are those competing the course at Tanah Merah Coast Road in the fastest time.

One intending participant, John Lim, 43, secretary of the local cycling club Crank Dynasty, was affected by both postponements.

“I had booked a holiday from June 19 to 23. So when they first changed the date of the race to June 25, I thought that I could still do it. But then, of course, my training and preparation would be impacted,” he said.

However, upon the second postponement of the race, Lim would no longer be able to participate due to prior family commitments.

“I’ve been planning since December last year, and now I can’t take part at all. It’s frustrating when you put that much time into it,” he said.

“When someone releases a schedule, you expect that person to stick to it, you cannot keep moving the goalpost.”

Similarly, Dr Ng Yi Kang, 36, a member of Crank Dynasty, was already affected by the first postponement when he had to spend some S$500 to reschedule a holiday.

Now, he is unsure if he will be able to participate in the race at all as a result of the second postponement.

An experienced cyclist, Dr Ng won the domestic title for the men’s master category in the OCBC Cycle National Championship 2022 Road individual time trial and had been training for this year’s individual time trial for roughly three months.

“With the race date so close, and then now having to stop and re-train before the new date, it’s mentally draining,” he said.

“In October, I will be participating in a half-Ironman, which means I have to train my running and swimming as well. I’m not sure if I can go for the race anymore as training for it may be too disruptive.”

A half-Ironman is a triathlon race combining swimming, cycling and running.

Dan Smith, 50, president of matadorRACING, noted that there had been a similar rescheduling in the previous year’s individual time trial.

“It’s very frustrating as we faced a similar late date change last year too,” he said.

“We’re in holiday season and riders have adjusted their plans to include this race in their schedule and planned their training around the race — this late change causes obvious disruption.”

Speaking to TODAY, SCF’s Singh said that he had personally apologised to many of the cycling club leaders in conjunction with the announcement.

Beyond the refund offered to participants who are no longer able to attend the race, Singh also plans to improve future planning processes.

“Going forward in 2024, we are re-looking at our event calendar and strategy for events. We don’t want to face these issues anymore.”

Singh acknowledges that there was a mis-step in the process of obtaining the necessary approval for road closures for this year’s event, but saw a silver lining to the dark cloud.

“There will be people who are unhappy because they may have already made the arrangements to prepare for the competition during a particular time of the year,” he said.

“On the other hand, I’ve also received feedback that some people who could not make it for June 25 are happy that it is on Sept 3.”

Nick Swallow, 48, president of the Specialized Dynasty Mavericks, agreed with adopting a positive outlook despite having experienced some disappointment as a participant in the postponed race himself.

“We are fully supportive of the Singapore Cycling Federation,” he said.

He said that within his team, one person is unable to make the new date but two or three others are happy with the postponement as they couldn’t make the previous date.

“For every person that is unhappy, maybe there’s somebody else who’s quite happy,” he said.

When asked about the upcoming OCBC National Championships Road Race in Bintan, Singh reassured participants that preparations for the overseas race have been going smoothly.

TODAY has reached out to Sport Singapore, the statutory board that oversees national sports associations such as SCF, for comment on the incident. — TODAY