The Tour of Guangxi (officially known as the GREE-Tour of Guangxi for sponsorship purposes) is an annual professional

cycling stage race Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

held in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The race consists of multi-stage and is part of the

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour (2009–2010: ''UCI World Ranking'') is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ...

. The event passes through a mix of metropolitan areas and stunning countryside scenery over six days of racing. In addition, the race also includes a women's race. The Tour of Guangxi, in China's southern autonomous Guangxi region bordering Vietnam, is the second World Tour race to be held in China, following in the footstep of the

Tour of Beijing The Tour of Beijing was an annual professional stage bicycle road race held in Beijing, China. History Its first edition took place in October 2011, as the penultimate event in the 2011 UCI World Tour The 2011 UCI World Tour was the third editi ...

which was held between 2011 and 2014. It also marks the UCI's return to the Far East after six years. Originally planned to return in 2022, the race was cancelled in June 2022 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China The COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). China was the first country to experience an outbreak o ...

History

In 1 December 2016,

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing ...

Wanda Group Wanda Group (), or the Dalian Wanda Group (), is a Chinese multinational conglomerate founded in Dalian, Liaoning and headquartered in Beijing. It is a private property developer and owner of Wanda Cinemas and the Hoyts Group. With inve ...

and People's Government Of The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region signed an agreement in Beijing, which said that authorized by the

, the GREE-Tour of Guangxi is a top ranking race organized by the local government and China's

since October, 2017. The first Gree Tour of Guangxi inaugurates on 19 October in South China's

Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam ( ...

with the participation of the 18 elite teams recognized by the UCI. It is also the last stage of

2017 UCI World Tour The 2017 UCI World Tour was a competition that included thirty-seven road bicycle racing, road cycling events throughout the 2017 in men's road cycling, 2017 men's cycling season. It was the ninth edition of the ranking system launched by the Un ...

. The race, from October 19-24, will start from the seaside city of

Beihai Beihai (; Postal romanization: Pakhoi) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Guangxi, People's Republic of China. Its status as a seaport on the north shore of the Gulf of Tonkin has granted it historical importance as a port of internation ...

, passing

Qinzhou Qinzhou ( postal: Yamchow, , Jyutping: ''Jam1 zau1'' ( Canton) /''Ham1 zau1'' (Local) ) is a prefecture-level city in south-central Guangxi, southern China, lying on the Gulf of Tonkin and having a total population of 3,302,238 as of the 2020 c ...

Nanning Nanning (; ; za, Namzningz) is the capital and largest city by population of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. It is known as the "Green City" because of its abundance of lush subtropical foliage. Located in the South of ...

Liuzhou Liuzhou (; , IPA Pronunciation:) is a prefecture-level city in north-central Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. The prefecture's population was 3,758,700 in 2010, including 1,436,599 in the built-up area made of 4 urban ...

and eventually ending in

Guilin Guilin ( Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''; alternatively romanized as Kweilin) is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the west bank of the Li River and borders Hunan to the nort ...

. The Tour of Guangxi comprises six stages with a total length of 940km, running through Guangxi from the south to the north, crossing plains, hills and mountains, the Beibu Gulf area, the rivers and mountains around the

Lijiang River The Li River or Li Jiang () is the name for the upper reaches of the Gui River in northwestern Guangxi, China. It is part of the Xijiang River system in the Pearl River Basin. The river flows from Xing'an County to Pingle County, where the kars ...

, the capital city of the autonomous region,

, and the historical site of

. It will showcase the spectacular natural scenes, historical culture and ethnic customs of Guangxi. In addition including a women's race. 2017 UCI Cycling Gala also will be held in the Chinese city of

. The first three stages are flat stages, and Fernando Gaviria, a world-top sprinter from Quick-Step Floors, won the champions of all the three stages, becoming the most popular superstar among the audiences. In the fourth stage in Nanning-Nongla Scenic Area, Tim Wellens from Team Lotto Soudal, who won the champion of Tour of Benelux twice, sprung up and won his first champion of climbing stage of Tour of Guangxi, and became the new owner of red jersey. In the 212.2km Liuzhou-Guilin stage of "Mountain Queen", Dylan Groenewegen from Team LottoNL-Jumbo won the champion. However, Tim Wellens still managed to obtain his red jersey before the last stages. Thus, in the last stage, Tim Wellens finally won the first grand champion of "UCI WorldTour · Tour of Guangxi".

Winners

General classification

Points classification

Mountains classification

Youth classification

Teams classification

Tour of Guangxi Women's Elite World Challenge

The 2019 edition of the Tour of Guangxi Women's WorldTour will take place on 22 October 2019 and cover 145km around

References

External links

* {{Tour of Guangxi Cycle races in China UCI World Tour races Recurring sporting events established in 2017 2017 establishments in China