2017 UCI Cycling Gala and Closing Ceremony of Tour of Guangxi held in Guilin

David Lappartient, President of the Union Cycliste Internationale, gives a speech.
Shen Jinkang, President of Chinese Cycling Association, give a speech.
Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin gives a speech.On October 24, 2017, the 2017 UCI Cycling Gala and Closing Ceremony of 2017 GREE “UCI WorldTour • Tour of Guangxi”, was held in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Among the attendees were David Lappartient, President of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), Shen Jinkang, President of Chinese Cycling Association, Wang Yuefei, Deputy Director of Standing Committee of Guangxi People’s Congress, Huang Weijing, Vice-chairman of the People’s Government of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Gao Feng, Vice-chairman of Guangxi CPPCC, Zhou Jiabin, Mayor of Guilin City, Wang Jianlin, Chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, as well as all the award-winning cyclists.

This is the third anniversary of UCI Cycling Gala, an annual occasion of UCI that is aimed to commend the cyclists achieved outstanding results in the past year. As Tour of Guangxi, the ending race of UCI, and Tour of Guangxi Women’s Elite World Challenge are held in Guangxi, 2017 UCI Cycling Gala moves to Guilin with the world-renowned scenery for the first time.

At the award ceremony, UCI President David Lappartient gave a speech. He praised that Tour of Guangxi is perfectly organized from the levels, track design, organization and social influence, and noted that the success of Tour of Guangxi will further consolidate China’s place in the development of cycling worldwide.

Then, Shen Jinkang, President of Chinese Cycling Association, noted in his speech that the cycling sees rapid development in China in recent years, and China won the Campion of Women’s Track Cycling in Rio 2016 Summer Games Olympics. He extended his gratitude to UCI for bringing UCI Cycling Gala to China, which further accelerates the development of cycling in China.

Wang Jianlin, Chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, put forward his expectations on Tour of Guangxi in his speech. He hoped that Wanda Group and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region could build Tour of Guangxi a world-leading brand cycling event within 3 years with the support from UCI, so as to create a new name card for Guangxi and push the sports undertaking in China to a higher level.

Following is the transcript of Chairman Wang Jianlin’s speech at the UCI Cycling Gala.

In this golden October, we get together here in beautiful Guilin to celebrate the successful conclusion of 2017 GREE “UCI WorldTour • Tour of Guangxi”” and witness the great occasion of UCI Cycling Gala. Here, on behalf of Dalian Wanda Group, I’d like to extend my warmest congratulations on the successful conclusion of two great occasions, and sincere gratitude to you all for your participation!

Over the past week, Guangxi became the focus on all the cycling enthusiasts worldwide, and gave all the athletes and audiences sweet memories with its beautiful scenery. The first GREE-Tour of Guangxi is perfectly organized from the levels, track design, organization and social influence, which has reached the level of world-class competition and significantly consolidates China’s place in the development of cycling worldwide. Over 400 media worldwide broadcasted and reported this tour, and the one-week wonderful matches were delivered to over 1 billion audiences by TVs, Internet and other media. This is the largest road race ever held in China, which sets off a wave of road race in China and makes it a popular sport among the Chinese.

The success of 2017 GREE “UCI WorldTour • Tour of Guangxi”” is also attributed to UCI who not only provides China a chance to hold UCI WorldTour, but also moves this year’s UCI GALA to Guilin, China. Sincere gratitude and great respect go also to Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, governments at all levels and the relevant authorities for their great concerns, heavy investment in track renovation, provision of comprehensive guarantee and creation of favorable atmosphere for the successful holding of all the events. Finally, I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to GREE for its great support and colleagues of Wanda Sports for their hard work!

The success of the first UCI WorldTour • Tour of Guangxi fully demonstrates the achievements of win-win cooperation among all the parties, and accumulates valuable experience for future events. We believe that Dalian Wanda Group and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region will surely build UCI WorldTour • Tour of Guangxi a world-leading brand cycling event within 3 years with the support from UCI, create a new name card for Guangxi and push the sports undertaking in China to a higher level.

Thank you!