The Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn's Cup Tour of Thailand 2025 will begin today with the men's race in Sa Kaeo.
The event, which will run until April 2, will take place in nine districts of Sa Kaeo with a total distance of 1,071.21km.
Today's first stage will start and finish in Aranyaprathet with the distance of 121.42km. Sa Kaeo Governor Parinya Photisat will preside over the opening ceremony at 8am.
"The Tour of Thailand will join a celebration of Her Royal Highest Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn's 70th Birthday on April 2. This year's event will be raced through major tourist spots including the Sdok Kok Thom Historical Park, the Pang Sida National Park and Rong Kluea Market," said Gen Decha Hemkrasri, president of the Thai Cycling Association (TCA).
Thanakarn Chaiyasombat, of Thailand Continental Cycling team, said "I am ready for this event. Me and my teammates have have been training very hard. We raced against many strong teams from Europe and Asia at the Tour of Taiwan recently and many of those teams will participate in the Tour of Thailand. Each team is strong and it will be an exciting competition.
"I hope the fans will cheer both the men's and women's teams. We will do our best," he added.
Another Thai rider Peerapol Chaochiangkwang said, "The Tour of Taiwan was a rehearsal for our team. The weather was quite cold in Taiwan but here in Thailand it is very hot, but it's not as hot as last year. The routes are mostly flat but the problem is it is quite windy and the stage is shorter than normal. However, our goal is at least to win the best Asean cyclist prize. We will try to do our best in this competition."
The men's event includes six stages and ends on March 29. The three-stage women's race will be held from March 31-April 2.