2017 GREE UCI WorldTour - Tour of Guangxi Concludes, Tim Wellens Wins Grand Champion

BEIJING, Oct. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 24, 2017, the first GREE "UCI WorldTour - Tour of Guangxi" completed as the Guilin Criterium of 2017 GREE UCI WorldTour Tour of Guangxi achieved a complete success. On the last match day, Fernando Gaviria won the penultimate and hardest stage of this tour after fierce battles against other contenders, while Tim Wellens won the grand champion with excellent performance in all the six stages of GREE "UCI WorldTour - Tour of Guangxi". The tour was authorized by Union Cycliste Internationale and organized by the People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Dalian Wanda Group.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/589356/Dalian_Wanda_Group.jpg

The Tour of Guangxi comprises six stages with a total length of 940km, stretching across five cities of Beihai, Qinzhou, Nanning, Liuzhou and Guilin. 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 the Tour of Benelux twice, sprung up and won his first champion of climbing stage of the 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" thanks to his excellent performance.

As the first UCI WorldTour held in China so far, 2017 GREE UCI WorldTour - Tour of Guangxi received great concerns from all sectors of the society. All the stages were full of enthusiastic audiences. CCTV-5, Travel Channel, Tencent Sports, Xinhua Net, Sohu Sports, Toutiao, Fox Sports, Direct TV, SBS and other TV and Internet platforms in and out of China broadcasted the event. 2017 GREE UCI WorldTour - Tour of Guangxi has always been the hot topic of all the BBSs. 118 countries and regions worldwide also reported the event by means of broadcasting and videos, arising strong repercussions among the cycling enthusiasts.

In this tour, a lot of Internet technologies are applied, and all the stages are set with an advanced Internet media center, very convenient for the Chinese and foreign media to update the match dynamics. Meanwhile, helicopters, ultra-large LED screen trucks, TV motorcycles and other advanced equipment are used for providing the audiences with a superior experience. During the tour, the Organizing Committee recruited over 3,300 volunteers, effectively keeping the tour safe and smooth.

GREE "UCI WorldTour - Tour of Guangxi" is a new event of UCI, and its success marks that China has owned its own road cycling race system with complete classes. It is of great significance to build Guangxi a center for various events of the world, especially the ASEAN. Moreover, GREE "UCI WorldTour - Tour of Guangxi" will also bring historical development opportunity for the popularization of cycling culture and upgrade of the bicycle industry in China, while the popularization and development of cycle racing are of great significance for the achievement of China's great ambitions to be a powerful nation in sports.