The Tour de Kyushu is an annual professional
road bicycle racing
Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional sport, professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and ...
stage race
A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages, but sometimes stages ...
held in
Kyushu
is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
for the first time in October 2023, as part of the
UCI Asia Tour. It is rated by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.1 category race. The race was created to showcase the recovery from recent disasters in
Kyushu
is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...
.
2023 edition
The main sponsor for the 2023 edition will be the . Three-stages will make up the race plus a pre race criterium. The Criterium will be multiple laps of a small city circuit for a total of 45km. Stage 1 will be a 145km route from
Kitakyushu
is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fuku ...
to
ÅŒmuta. Stage 2 will be 120km and be on hilly terrain going through the
Aso Mountains, starting in Minami Oguni and ending in Minami Aso. The final stage of the race will be a stage for the sprinters of 135km starting with a decent followed by laps of a circuit around
Hita to finish.
In preparation for the Race in 2023 the organisers ran a virtual race with segments from each of the stages.
Winners
References
External links
* {{official website, https://www.tourdekyushu.asia/en/
Cycle races in Japan
UCI Asia Tour races
Recurring sporting events established in 2023