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Tour of Russia Postponed for Another Year but Tour of Hangzhou Set for Go-ahead |
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Cycling - 14 Jun 2012 - A proposed new top-tier Tour of Russia road cycling race has been postponed for a further year after the Russian cycling federation said that it could not stage the race in 2013.
The UCI, cycling’s world governing body, has been targeting Russia as a possible location for a new UCI WorldTour race for some time, but a proposed Tour of Sochi in 2009 was postponed because of the fall in value of the Russian rouble and the worldwide economic crisis.
Construction work in the city, which is hosting the winter Olympic Games in 2014, then prompted the UCI and the Russian federation to assess other cities as possible venues for the race.
However, the UCI’s Professional Cycling Council said yesterday that it “took note of the decision of the Russian federation not to organise” the race in 2013.
Meanwhile, a proposed new Tour of Hangzhou race in China has joined the UCI WorldTour calendar on October 17 to 21 this year (subject to receiving a WorldTour licence tomorrow), making it the last event on this year’s WorldTour schedule this year. It will be held the week after the Tour of Beijing, which made its debut in the series last year.
The races are part of a deliberate strategy by the UCI to extend top road cycling beyond its traditional European heartland.
Pat McQuaid, the UCI’s president, told Sportcal in 2010 that the need for global backers in the sport is a major driving force for taking top level races to Russia and China.
Sportcal
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