One of China's most popular annual cycling events, the Tour of Taihu Lake, marked its 10th anniversary in Wuxi on Oct 10. Professional cyclists from around the world came to race on a course near Taihu Lake, with their performances broadcast live in more than 180 countries and regions on five continents.
The Tour of Taihu Lake is broadcast live on CCTV5, Hainan TV, Chinese video websites and a number of international sports channels. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
After being held annually for the past 10 years, the event has become significant in the racing calendar. Each time it has been held, the organizing committee has tried to improve its procedures for selecting competitors, designing courses and encouraging public participation.
A total of 21 teams participated in the 2019 Tour of Taihu Lake, including eight intercontinental professional teams, 12 intercontinental teams and one regional team. Among them, five have participated in the Tour de France, Tour of Spain, and Tour of Italy.
It's going to be a very hard competition, and it will be tough to qualify for the next stage, said Brenton Jones from Delko Marseille Provence (DMP) who won the third place in Stage 1.
Bai Lijun, the cyclist who got the red jersey (given to the best rider from China) also stated that this year's race is set to be fast-paced due to the number and quality of teams taking part.
The 2019 Tour of Taihu Lake is set to feature a large number of participants as well as some top professional cyclists. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
In order to give competitors a better competition experience, the organizing committee has optimized the Wuxi Binhu circuit by slightly increasing its distance to 88.8km. The overall route fluctuates a lot, and more than half of the course runs along the lake. And because the terrain of the Yangtze River Delta is relatively flat, the race does not feature mountainous terrain, meaning that participants will be able to cycle faster.
