Tour of Beijing 2011 Live Dashboard
Race Info, Preview, Live Video, Results, Photos and Highlights
The inaugural Tour of Beijing, the first ProTour race in Asia, starts and finishes at the Bird's Nest (now known as The National Stadium) site of the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening and closing ceremonies |
News and Updates for Tour of Beijing 2011
The 2012 race is Tuesday October 9th to Saturday October 13th:
Tour of Beijing » 2012 Route —
tourofbeijing.net
Stage 5 Results/Final GC and Report
— cyclingnews
12 Big Photos from Stage 5 — Tanaka/De Waele
October 8/9 update: Stage 5 starts in the old part of the Beijing at Tian An Men Square (photo above) and then makes its way to the north end of town along. The finish is where we started on Wednesday at the Bird's Nest with 12 small circuits expected to decide one final sprint finish. Downtown Beijing is flat which is one of the reasons why it is such a good bike commuting city and this entire stage is as flat as you can get. Race leader Tony Martin, who won the stage 1 ITT by 17s will take that same margin into the final stage and it's likely that will be his margin of victory. — Steve
Or see the race summary table (right) for the stage profile, map and timetable.
Stage 4 results: Liquigas' young guns finish one-two in the mass sprint at the Olympic Rowing Center
Stage 4 results
1 Elia VIVIANI ITA LIQ 4:09:08
2 Peter SAGAN SVK LIQ
3 Juan José HAEDO ARG SBS
4 Denis GALIMZYANOV RUS KAT
5 Alexander PORSEV RUS KAT
6 Alexander KRISTOFF NOR BMC
7 Leigh HOWARD AUS THR
8 Manuele MORI ITA LAM
9 Enrique SANZ ESP MOV
10 Heinrich HAUSSLER AUS GRM
General Classification after Stage 4
1 Tony MARTIN (GER) HTC-Highroad 3:17:03
2 David MILLAR (GBR) Garmin-Cervelo + 0:17
3 Chris Froome (GBR) Sky + 0:26
Full/Official Stage 4 Results — tourofbeijing
Full/Official General Classification after Stage 4 — tourofbeijing
Viviani leads Liquigas-Cannondale 1-2
— cyclingnews
13 Big Photos from Stage 4 — Tanaka/De Waele
October 7/8 update: Stage 4 loops around the northern outer districts of Beijing before heading back towards the city via the Great Wall for the finish at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre in the northeast part of town. There are a couple minor categorized climbs but nothing that should thwart a sprint finish. — Steve
Or see the race summary table (right) for the stage profile, map and timetable.
Stage 3 results: Nicolas Roche (Ag2R La Mondiale) wins his first ProTour race after the three man break barely succeeds
Full/Official Stage 3 Results — tourofbeijing
Full/Official General Classification after Stage 3 — tourofbeijing
Roche beats Deignan in Yong Ning Town
— cyclingnews
Roche and Deignan take Irish one-two on queen stage of Tour of Beijing
— velonation
Nicolas Roche wins Beijing queen stage, Martin holds the lead
— velonews
Elijssen seriously injured in Beijing crash as Bookwalter suffers
— velonews
13 Big Photos from Stage 3 — Tanaka/De Waele
30 Minutes of Stage 3 Highlights (30:00 English) — cycling.tv
October 6/7 update: Stage 3 is easily the most difficult portion of the race. Starting from the stage 2 finish in Mentougou, the course will head north through the Xi and Junda Mountains featuring three category 1 and a category 2 climb. The second of three cat 1 KOMs summits at the Great Wall (photo above) in Xiezishi before the race continues on to Yong Ning Town for a flat finish. Many of you may not realize that this portion of the 8,800 km long Great Wall is located in Beijing in one of the outer districts unofficially known as "rural Beijing." This stage suits a decent climber and good sprinter like Peter Sagan of Liquigas. — Steve
Or see the race summary table (right) for the stage profile, map and timetable.
Stage 2 results: Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Cervelo) wins a photo finish in front of a decent size crowd in Mentougou
Stage 2 results
1 Heinrich HAUSSLER (AUS) Garmin-Cervelo 3:03:30
2 Denis GALIMZYANOV (RUS) Katusha
3 Theo BOS (NED) Rabobank
4 Francesco CHICCHI (ITA) Quick Step
5 Alexander KRISTOFF (NOR) BMC Racing
6 Elia VIVIANI (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale
7 Davide APPOLLONIO (ITA) Sky
8 Giacomo NIZZOLO (ITA) Leopard-Trek
9 Manuele MORI (ITA) Lampre-ISD
10 Angel MADRAZO RUIZ (ESP) Movistar
General Classification after Stage 2
1 Tony MARTIN (GER) HTC-Highroad 3:17:03
2 David MILLAR (GBR) Garmin-Cervelo + 0:17
3 Alex DOWSETT (GBR) Sky + 0:24
Full/Official Stage 2 Results — tourofbeijing
Full/Official General Classification after Stage 2 — tourofbeijing
Haussler wins in Men Tou Gou — cyclingnews
Haussler beats Galimzyanov to take first win since February — velonation
Haussler back in winner’s circle in China as crowds turn out for second stage
— velonews
30 Minutes of Stage 2 Highlights (30:00 English) — cycling.tv
17 Big Photos from Stage 2 — Tanaka/De Waele
October 5/6 update: Stage 2 starts at the Bird's Nest and then heads west past the Summer Palace (photo above) out to the rural Mentougou District, a mining and agriculture region west of downtown Beijing. Although, the stage passes by the "Xi Mountains" and "Western Hills", the stage is flat other than a category 3 hill ridden four times as part of finishing circuits. Look for a sprint finish. — Steve
Or see the race summary table (right) for the stage profile, map and timetable.
Stage 1 results: World TT Champ, Tony Martin, easily wins the TT on road bikes to open the inaugural Tour of Beijing
Full/Official Stage 1 Results — tourofbeijing
Martin blasts to victory in Beijing — cyclingnews
Martin powers to TT win as Beijing tour debuts with curious peloton
— velonews
Riders open-minded about Chinese adventure
— velonews
Martin holds off British charge to win Beijing time trial
— cyclingweekly.co.uk
Tour of Beijing faces smog and police
— cyclingweekly.co.uk
30 Minutes of Stage 1 ITT Highlights (30:00 English) — cycling.tv
Full As-Live Stage 1 ITT Coverage (1:30:00 English) — cycling.tv
Stage 1 ITT Photos — cyclingnews
Cycling-Beijing event good for the sport, says Millar
— uk.eurosport.yahoo
October 4/5 update: A short, flat time-trial loop around the Bird's Nest/ National Stadium (see banner image above) and Olympic Park. — Steve
Official Startlist w/ bib numbers — steephill.tv
Stage 1 ITT Start Order and Times — steephill.tv
Or see the race summary table (right) for the stage profile, map and timetable.
2011 Race Preview
more photos coming...
October 3 update: The Tour of Beijing is the latest addition to the ProTour as part of the UCI's goal to make pro cycling a more international sport and there are several unique characteristics of this event worth noting. Firstly, the race is being organized by a company created using UCI money raising the collective eyebrows of the ProTour teams who are effectively helping to fund this race. Secondly, it is the first ProTour race in Asia and thirdly, it is being held in an area which has a vast infrastructure for cycling as transportation but relatively little interest in competitive cycling.
Beijing, the hosts of the 2008 Summer Olympics, will host this race starting and finishing at the Bird's Nest (now known as the National Stadium) where the expensive and impressive opening and closing ceremonies awed the rest of the world. The Bird Nest's hasn't done very well since the Olympics in drawing many concert or sporting events, but it is a popular tourist destination.
The route will also visit other 2008 Olympic venues such as the Beijing National Aquatics Centre or “Water Cube” and Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park in addition to traditional Chinese landmarks, such as the Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall.
The route is not difficult by pro standards and all of the five stages except one could end in sprint finishes. However, Stage 3 from Men Tou Gou featuring three category one climbs before the descending finish into Yong Ning Town will be the most difficult stage.
Since this is a ProTour event, all ProTour teams are required to participate and an unusually large number of riders have openly voiced their discontent on having to make the long trip to China late in the racing season for a race many locals will not watch in a city known for its air pollution. — Steve
About Beijing — en.wikipedia.org
Curious pros line up for Beijing tour
— velonews
Garmin and Liquigas count on Millar and Sagan in Beijing
— cyclingnews
Q & A: Global Cycling Promotion on Beijing and the way forward
— cyclingnews
Tour of Beijing teams wary of clenbuterol in food
— cyclingnews
Tour of Beijing: A step forward for cycling?
— cyclingweekly.co.uk
China might have a WorldTour team within six years, McQuaid says
— cyclingnews
Tour of Beijing team training gallery by Gregg Bleakney
— velonews
Cycling in Beijing
Unlike most Western cities, Beijing has an excellent cycling infrastructure due to its long tradition of using bicycles for transportation. (Most of the many bike lanes have barriers that separate bikes from motor traffic.) When I visited Beijing last month. I saw only one cyclist in road cycling attire with helmet and cycling shoes among the many thousands of cyclists I saw on the roads and I only counted a couple of helmets in total. There is lots of car traffic to contend with when crossing streets so cycling in Beijing isn't for the faint-hearted yet it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. The many bike lanes and cool old narrow side streets (hutongs) proved to be a fun way to visit some of the landmarks and get a feel for this ancient city which is perfectly flat.
This brings us to one of the main reasons why this event is being hosted in Beijing. The local organizing committee wants to use this event to promote cycling's modern appeal to get more people to use their bikes for transportation and sport/leisure. Beijing is notorious for poor air quality and indeed during the first few days of my visit, the air pollution was bad. But, when I left six days later, the sky was almost perfectly blue. So, poor air quality isn't always prevalent.
Since the lead up to the 2008 Olympics, Beijing has taken dramatic steps to improve the air quality of their city which have been somewhat successful. They halved the motor traffic by limiting drivers to odd or even days (based on their license plate numbers) and new car licenses are issued via a lottery. For the Olympics, five new branches of their impressive subway system were build in just five years. (Communism can have its benefits in getting things done!) Still the number of cars in Beijing continues to grow at a rapid rate.
We'll have to wait and see if this event generates long-term staying power.
— Steve
Thanks to George and Selena (pictured above) of Bike Beijing for lending me a cool cruiser and showing me a good route to ride in downtown Beijing for the one day I could go biking when I visited Beijing in early September. Bike Beijing (English web-site) offer many guided tours of the famous Chinese landmarks in and around Beijing. — Steve
Live Video Streaming, Text Updates and TV Coverage
October 5 update: A work in progress for Tour of Beijing 2011 worldwide tv coverage and online video streaming. Most live feeds will be country restricted, but unrestricted links will appear in bold. Check back at race time for more links. Feel free to send in additional sources for live video, tv coverage or text updates/tickers as they become known. — Steve
2011 Route Map
