World cycling's governing body, the UCI, has announced that the inaugural edition of the Tour of Hangzhou, scheduled to be the final race in the 2012 WorldTour calendar, will not now take place. It is hoped that the five-day race will feature on the calendar in 2013.
In a statement, the UCI said that the decision not to hold the race, which was due to take place immediately after the Tour of Beijing, was made along with its subsidiary Global Cycling Promotion (GCP), the Chinese Cycling Association, the Chinese Sports Ministry and the city of Hangzhou.
It added that "despite the efforts of all those involved in this initiative... not all the general conditions necessary to guarantee that the race would fulfil the UCI WorldTour quality criteria had been met." It did not specify what those conditions were.
GCP director Alain Rumpf commented: “We put in a lot of work to stage the first edition of the event in 2012, but we needed a little more time to fine-tune certain internal matters in China.
“In choosing to delay the first edition, we can ensure that the event will meet the expectations of all our partners, as was the case last year with the Tour of Beijing.”
UCI President, Mr Pat McQuaid maintained that despite the race not being held this year, it is still “a very important element in the UCI’s strategy for the development of cycling, and the decision to postpone the organisation of this event will have no negative consequences on the project.”
But down the line it can put a big dent in its resale value which ups leasing costs and the amount of cash an owner is throwing at their status...
Let's hope he doesn't read Road CC, the amount of articles they write putting a downer on him.
Only reading the headline on the homepage, not the rest of the article, but I only ride mountain bikes and I still get close passed...
Fair enough, personal experience may trump (not that one) theory. However, the bonking I have experienced has been due to lack of carbs. Your point...
Agreed, but he was still right to publicise the event. The police, if they're anything like Lancashire, will do nothing at all.
mdavidfrodo?
How can anybody reject the beauty of that? It's a wonderful mix of modern tech yet absolutely functional.
in the UK we have policing which to a greater or lesser extent relies on assistance from members of the public......
Just wanted to share a quick thank you to everyone who helped out in this thread....
So...don't cycle on it. Lots of other routes around that area. Source: I used to work there.