2012 International Tour de Taiwan Road Cycling Race to Kick Off on March 10

The annual "International Tour de Taiwan Road Cycling Race," one of the events in the Asian Tour organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), will be held from March 10 to 16. Following Irish international race director Michael Robb’s praise in 2011 for the event’s scale reaching near-Tour de France standards, the 2012 edition has officially been upgraded to a top-tier F1 (2.1 category) race. The total race spans 7 days across 7 stages, featuring 100 elite riders from 20 teams representing 14 countries. The first stage kicks off in Taipei City, followed by New Taipei City (Stage 2), Taoyuan County (Stage 3), Taichung City (Stage 4), Changhua County (Stage 5), Tainan City (Stage 6), and Kaohsiung City (Stage 7).

On the morning of March 5, at the Changhua County Government courtyard, Changhua County Magistrate Cho Po-yuan, Secretary-General of the Chinese Taipei Cycling Association Lee Kai-chih, Zhang Wei-ren and Xie Zheng-ying—local athletes representing Taiwan’s professional cycling team—held a press conference to cheer on the riders and launch the Changhua stage. On March 14, elite cyclists from around the world will start the race in front of the iconic Eight Trigrams Mountain Giant Buddha in Changhua County. In pursuit of their dreams for the 2012 London Olympics, Taiwan’s top cyclists have given their all to earn valuable points and compete for Olympic qualification. Among them, Changhua natives Zhang Wei-ren and Xie Zheng-ying, who will compete for RTS Racing Team and Action Cycling Team respectively, are shining representatives of their hometown.

Changhua County is known as Taiwan’s bicycle hub, boasting an extensive leisure cycling network, and the island’s first bicycle industry museum was established here under the county government’s initiative. “Cycling” has become one of the county’s defining features. The 2012 Changhua stage includes one mountain climb and two sprint points, covering a distance of 136.05 kilometers that will challenge the riders’ stamina and endurance. The rider with the highest accumulated points at each stage will win the stage trophy and have the chance to wear the yellow jersey, symbolizing the overall individual leader.

For more information on each stage of the race, please visit the Chinese Taipei Cycling Association’s official website at www.cycling.org.tw.

● Related Reading: International Riders Arrive in Taiwan, Marking the Start of the Taiwan Cup International Road Invitational Race

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