Tour of Guangxi

Tour of Guangxi
Race details
DateOctober
RegionGuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
English nameGREE-Tour of Guangxi
Local name(s)格力·环广西公路自行车世界巡回赛 (in Chinese)
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionUCI World Tour
UCI Women's World Tour
TypeStage race (men)
One-day race (women)
OrganiserPeople's Government Of The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
Wanda Group
Race directorOlivier Senn
Web sitewww.tourofguangxi.com.cn Edit this at Wikidata
History (men)
First edition2017 (2017)
Editions5 (as of 2024)
First winner Tim Wellens (BEL)
Most winsNo repeat winners
Most recent Lennert Van Eetvelt (BEL)
History (women)
First edition2017
Editions5 (as of 2024)
First winner Maria Vittoria Sperotto (ITA)
Most winsNo repeat winners
Most recent Sandra Alonso (ESP)

The Tour of Guangxi (officially known as the GREE-Tour of Guangxi for sponsorship purposes) is an annual professional cycling race held in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.[1]

The men's race is a stage race and is part of the UCI World Tour.[2] The women's race is a one-day race and is part of the UCI Women's World Tour.[3] The event passes through a mix of metropolitan areas and countryside scenery.[4]

First held in 2017, the men's race is the second UCI World Tour race to be held in China, following the Tour of Beijing which was held between 2011 and 2014.[5] The women's race was first held in 2017, and joined the UCI Women's World Tour in 2018 - becoming the second event on the calendar held in China after Tour of Chongming Island.

History

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On 1 December 2016, the UCI, Wanda Sports (part of Wanda Group) and the regional government of Guangxi signed an agreement that would see a newly-created stage race, the Tour of Guangxi, added to the UCI WorldTour from October 2017. Additionally, this agreement outlined that a women's Tour of Guangxi would be added to the calendar from 2017 and would apply for inclusion on the UCI Women's WorldTour from 2018. The UCI also announced that the UCI Cycling Gala would be held in the Chinese city of Guilin, having previously been hosted in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.[5]

The inaugural men's race took place from 19–24 October 2017 and was the final event of the 2017 UCI World Tour.[6] Stage 1 took place in and around Beihai. Subsequent stages passed through Qinzhou, Nanning and Liuzhou, traversing Guangxi from south to north. Guilin hosted Stage 6, the final stage of the tour.[7] Tim Wellens finished first in the General Classification, beating runner-up Bauke Mollema by six seconds.[8] Wellens had also won Stage 4, with Dylan Groenewegen winning Stage 5.[9][10] Sprinter Fernando Gaviria won the three flat stages at the start of the tour, as well as the final stage.[8] The inaugural women's race took place on 24 October 2017 and covered 110 km in and around Guilin. It was won by Maria Sperotto. Amy Cure and Lucy van der Haar also finished on the podium.[11] The Tour of Guangxi was first part of the Women's WorldTour in 2018.[12]

The race was due to occur in 2020, 2021 and 2022, but was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[13][14][15]

In the 2018, 2019 and 2023 editions of the tour, the race took a similar route as in 2017, travelling through Guangxi from Beihai on the south coast to Guilin in the north, with near-identical intermediate stage hosts. The 2024 route will instead start in Fangchenggang on the south coast, then travel north through the western part of Guangxi (through Chongzuo, Jingxi, Bama, Jinchengjiang and Yizhou) before turning south to conclude in the region's capital, and regular stage host, Nanning.[16] Similarly, the first four editions of the women's race were hosted in Guilin; the 2024 edition will instead be hosted in Nanning.

Winners

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General classification

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Year Country Rider Team
2017  Belgium Tim Wellens Lotto–Soudal
2018  Italy Gianni Moscon Team Sky
2019  Spain Enric Mas Deceuninck–Quick-Step
2020[13] No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021[14] No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022[15] No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2023  Netherlands Milan Vader Team Jumbo–Visma
2024  Belgium Lennert Van Eetvelt Lotto–Dstny

Points classification

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Year Country Rider Team
2017  Colombia Fernando Gaviria Quick-Step Floors
2018  Netherlands Fabio Jakobsen Quick-Step Floors
2019  Germany Pascal Ackermann Bora–Hansgrohe
2020[13] No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021[14] No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022[15] No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2023  Belgium Dries De Bondt Alpecin–Deceuninck
2024  Great Britain Ethan Vernon Israel–Premier Tech

Mountains classification

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Year Country Rider Team
2017  Italy Daniel Oss BMC Racing Team
2018   Switzerland Silvan Dillier AG2R La Mondiale
2019  Poland Tomasz Marczyński Lotto–Soudal
2020[13] No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021[14] No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022[15] No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2023  Denmark Frederik Wandahl Bora–Hansgrohe
2024  Netherlands Pepijn Reinderink Soudal–Quick-Step

Youth classification

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Year Country Rider Team
2017  France Julian Alaphilippe Quick-Step Floors
2018  Italy Gianni Moscon Team Sky
2019  Spain Enric Mas Deceuninck–Quick-Step
2020[13] No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021[14] No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022[15] No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2023  Great Britain Ethan Hayter Ineos Grenadiers
2024  Belgium Lennert Van Eetvelt Lotto–Dstny

Teams classification

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Year Team
2017 BMC Racing Team
2018 Astana
2019 Lotto–Soudal
2020[13] No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021[14] No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022[15] No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2023 Cofidis
2024 UAE Team Emirates

Tour of Guangxi Women

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First held in 2017 as the Tour of Guangxi Women's Elite World Challenge, the women's race joined the UCI Women's World Tour in 2018.[17]

Year Country Rider Team
2017  Italy Maria Vittoria Sperotto Bepink–Cogeas
2018  Cuba Arlenis Sierra Astana Women's Team
2019  Australia Chloe Hosking Alé–Cipollini
2020[13] No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021[14] No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022[15] No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2023  Poland Daria Pikulik Human Powered Health
2024  Spain Sandra Alonso Ceratizit–WNT Pro Cycling

The 2019 edition of the Tour of Guangxi Women's WorldTour took place on 22 October 2019 covered 145 km around Guilin.[18]

References

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  1. ^ "Tour of Guangxi". FirstCycling.com. 2023.
  2. ^ "Tour of Guangxi (Chn) - Cat.2.UWT". Memoire-du-cyclisme.eu (in French). Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  3. ^ "UCI to add Chinese race to 2017 WorldTour calendar - Cycling Weekly". Cycling Weekly. 9 November 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  4. ^ "UCI confirms new Chinese WorldTour race the Tour of Guangxi for 2017 - Cycling Weekly". Cycling Weekly. 1 December 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Tour of Guangxi added to 2017 WorldTour calendar". Cyclingnews. 1 December 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  6. ^ Wynn, Nigel (13 October 2017). "Team Sky reveal line-up for final WorldTour race of season: the Tour of Guangxi". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  7. ^ Woodpower, Zeb (15 October 2017). "Tour of Guangxi race preview". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  8. ^ a b Robertshaw, Henry (24 October 2017). "Tim Wellens completes overall victory at Tour of Guangxi to bring curtain down on WorldTour season". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  9. ^ "Tour of Guangxi: Wellens into red after stage 4 win". Cyclingnews. 22 October 2017.
  10. ^ "Tour of Guangxi: Groenewegen wins stage 5". 23 October 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  11. ^ "Sperotto beats Cure and Garner in Guangxi sprint finish". Cyclingnews. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  12. ^ Rogers, Owen (30 June 2017). "UCI adds three new races to Women's WorldTour for 2018 season". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g Ryan, Barry (10 August 2020). "Tour of Guangxi cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g "Tour of Guangxi, Tour of Chongming Island, Hamburg Cyclassics cancelled due to COVID-19". Cyclingnews. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g "UCI WorldTours shortened as Tours of Guangxi cancelled". Cyclingnews. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  16. ^ "Gree - Tour of Guangxi 2024 stages". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  17. ^ Mickey, Abby (11 October 2023). "Preview: Tour of Chongming Island and Tour of Guangxi". Escape Collective. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  18. ^ "Guilin Circuit Race". Tour of Guangxi. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
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