Race details | |
---|---|
Date | April (until 2012) June (since 2013) |
Region | South Korea |
English name | Tour of Korea |
Local name(s) | 투르 드 코리아 (in Korean) |
Discipline | Road |
Competition | UCI Asia Tour 2.1 |
Type | Stage race |
Organiser | Korea Cycling Federation |
Web site | www |
History | |
First edition | 2000 |
Editions | 20 (as of 2019) |
First winner | ![]() |
Most wins | ![]() |
Most recent | ![]() |
The Tour de Korea is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in South Korea since 2000 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. It was rated by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.2 category race between 2005 and 2013, then promoted to 2.1 category in 2014. The race is organised by the Korea Cycling Federation.
The tour gained international attention when Lance Armstrong, a seven-time Tour de France winner, participated in 2007. Armstrong, having retired from cycling at that time, did not compete, but for the sake of publicity, he rode one lap around the course of the first stage on his mountain bicycle.
Tour de Korea is the only international cycling competition in South Korea. The predecessor to Tour de Korea was stopped in 1997 due to financial strains. Tour de Korea is divided into two divisions: Elite for invitees and competitive cyclists, and a "Special race" for cycling club teams. The prize money for the 2011 tour totaled 200 million Won.
The tour course is 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) long, making it the longest cycling competition in Asia.
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