Global cycling governing body Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has confirmed that the independent Licence Commission has granted a UCI WorldTour licence to the new Tour of Beijing for a four-year period (2011-2014).
Obtaining a licence is the last administrative step necessary in the procedure for an event to become part of the UCI WorldTour. With this licence, the Tour of Beijing becomes the fourth race outside of Europe to join the prestigious cycling tour after the Tour Down Under in Australia, the GP Cycliste de Québec and the GP Cycliste de Montréal in Canada.
UCI President Pat McQuaid welcomed the decision from the Licence Commission, which was made after an in-depth evaluation of the file submitted. In praising the work carried out by the organising committee, the Chinese authorities and Global Cycling Promotion, McQuaid underlined that the granting of the licence would benefit the city of Beijing and cycling as a whole.
This year, the Tour of Beijing will take place from 5-9 October, and is the 27th event of the UCI WorldTour.
To facilitate travel and accommodation procedures for riders and their teams, travel operator UCI Travel has undertaken to organise travel packages.
UCI Travel is the result of a partnership between the UCI and Mumma Media, part of the fast growing sports media group Sportsnet. It organises packages for cycling fans wishing to travel to UCI World Cup and World Championship events.
The Tour of Beijing will be covered by the following television channels:
Eurosport 2 (Pan-Europe), TV2 Sporten (Denmark), Universal Sports (USA), Sportsnet (Rogers) in Canada, Beijing TV (China), Eurosport Asia Pacific, ESPN Star Sports (Pan Asia), Ten Sports (India), SNS (Australia), Sky NZ (New Zealand), Cycling TV (Great Britain), MNet Supersport (Africa) as well as SNTV and Emotions worldwide. The Sufferfest will also use images of the Tour of Beijing for its cycling training DVDs.
