Both the UWT and WWT close in China
Once again, the last races of the first division of world cycling, both in the men's category (UWT) and the women's category (WWT), will take place in China. For the men, the Gree-Tour of Guangxi will be the final race of the world tour, while the women will conclude their season with the Tour of Chongming Island and the Women's Tour of Guangxi.
Gree-Tour of Guangxi: route and favorites
The men's race consists of six stages, which this time seem to wish to avoid too many sprint finishes. The first and last stages may end in bunch sprints, but stages 2, 3, and 4 feature between 1,700 and 3,000 meters of positive elevation gain each, and the fifth stage ends at the Nongla Scenic Spot (3.3 km at 6.6%), so we may see varied outcomes.
Among the GC favorites are last year's winner Milan Vader (200) and his teammates Koen Bouwman (200) and Per Strand Hagenes (200), alongside other top riders like Lennert Van Eetvelt (200), Oscar Onley (200), Pavel Sivakov (300), Max Poole (600), Luke Plapp (600), Jhonathan Narvaez (400), Tim Wellens (400), Alexey Lutsenko (400), Maximilian Schachmann (200), or Lorenzo Fortunato (400). For the sprints, Fabio Jakobsen (600), Juan Sebastián Molano (400), Marijn Van Den Berg (400), Kasper Van Uden (400), Milan Fretin (400), Ethan Vernon (400), Iván García Cortina (400), Gleb Syritsa (400), or Jasper Stuyven (400) are some of the fastest on paper.
Tour of Chongming Island: route and favorites
The course is identical to last year, with three completely flat stages predicting three sprint finishes.
Daria Pikulik (200), Eleonora Gasparrini (600), Tamara Dronova-Balabolina (400), Mylene de Zoete (200), Silvia Zanardi (200), Marta Lach (400), Maggie Coles-Lyster (200), Tereza Neumanova (200), Kathrin Schwinberger (200), Alba Teruel (200), Silvia Zanardi (200), or Sofie Van Rooijen (200) are some of the fastest riders on the provisional start list.
Women's Tour of Guangxi: route and favorites
The women's Tour of Guangxi follows the same route as the final stage of the men's race: 133 km and 1,500 meters of elevation gain on a circuit in Nanning, which includes a 1.4 km ramp at 11.6%.
Many of the same cyclists who will have participated in the Tour of Chongming Island will compete again, so by paying attention to the results in the previous race, we may be able to predict which riders are in the best form.
Photo: © Tour of Guangxi