PARIS (AFP) — The Tour of Hangzhou is a non-starter again in 2013, the sport’s world governing body, the UCI, announced on Thursday.
The Professional Cycling Council (PCC), which met for two days in Geneva, “buried” the Chinese race, which it also struck from the calendar in 2012.
“After realising that the basic conditions for organizing a race at UCI WorldTour level would not be met in the short-term, the project has been frozen,” said the UCI in a press release.
The UCI moved the Tour of Beijing forward to October 11-15 as a result of the Hanzhou race’s removal. The cancellation of the event, which would have been China’s second WorldTour race, is a blow to the UCI’s promotional arm, Global Cycling Promotion (GCP). GCP had hoped the addition of a second Chinese event would create a strong block of Asian racing to close the WorldTour.
The PAC also announced the name of its new president, Dutchman Joop Atsma, “whose appointment was approved earlier this week” for succession of Italian Vittorio Adorni.
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