Gree - Tour of Guangxi 2023

The final race of the men's WorldTour season will take place in southern China, with Tim Wellens amongst those hoping to succeed 2019 winner Enric Mas as the Gree-Tour of Guangxi champion

The peloton races along at the 2019 Gree-Tour of Guangxi

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Gree - Tour of Guangxi

Dates 12 Oct - 17 Oct
Race Length 958 kms
Race Category Elite Men

The Gree-Tour of Guangxi 2023 takes place from October 12 to 17, and will mark the first edition of this race in four years. Founded in 2017, the race only ran for three editions before being cancelled for the next three due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it returns to the calendar in 2023.

14 WorldTour teams, three ProTeams and one Chinese national side will begin this year’s race, with UAE Team Emirates heading to southern China with the 2017 champion, Tim Wellens. Defending champion, Enric Mas, will not be in attendance, but Movistar will hope to retain their title from 2019 through Iván Sosa and Matteo Jorgenson. In the sprint finishes, we can expect a showdown of the young sensations, Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) and Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma).

The race takes place in the autonomous region of Guangxi in southern China, visiting its main cities of Nanning, Beihai and Guillin. Previous editions have featured a mix of flat and hillier stages, attracting a strong field of sprinters and punchier all-rounders. Without any big climbers, the general classification is usually fairly open, and can suit a wide range of riders. What’s key is being aggressive and taking time on the stages where the road does go uphill - namely stages 3 and 4 this time around.

This year, the Gree-Tour of Guangxi will close out the men’s WorldTour, taking place the week after Il Lombardia, which has been the season-closer for the last three seasons.

Race key

Dates: October 12-17, 2023

Country: China

Category: 2.UWT

Editions: 3 (as of 2022)

First winner: Tim Wellens

Most recent winner: Enric Mas

Contenders

Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) is the only previous winner on the startlist and will be confident of replicating his success from 2017, with stage 4’s summit finish ending on the very climb he conquered that year.

However, dsm-firmenich will hold big hopes with Oscar Onley, whilst Movistar may be without defending champion Enric Mas, but will fancy their chances through Iván Sosa and Matteo Jorgenson.

For a full list of contenders, check out our race preview.

Teams

Alpecin-Deceuninck (WT)
Arkéa Samsic
Bahrain Victorious
Bora-Hansgrohe
Cofidis
dsm-firmenich
EF Education-EasyPost
Ineos Grenadiers
Intermarché-Circus-Wanty
Jayco AlUla
Jumbo-Visma
Lidl-Trek
Movistar
UAE Team Emirates
Israel-Premier Tech (PRT)
Lotto Dstny
Tudor Pro Cycling
China (NAT)

How to watch

Live coverage and race replays of the Gree-Tour of Guangxi 2023 will be available on GCN+ for subscribers in selected territories. Click here for more details.

Schedule:

Stage 1 live from 07:00 CEST on 12 October
Stage 2 live from 07:06 CEST on 13 October
Stage 3 live from 07:00 CEST on 14 October
Stage 4 live from 07:00 CEST on 15 October
Stage 5 live from 08:20 CEST on 16 October
Stage 6 live from 07:30 CEST on 17 October

Race history

Launched in 2017, the Gree-Tour of Guangxi was created as a joint venture between the UCI and the local government in Guangxi in order to bring men’s WorldTour racing back to China. The Tour of Beijing had previously been held between 2011 and 2014, but between 2014 and 2017 the men’s peloton hadn’t raced in China.

The first edition of the tour started in the coastal city of Beihai, and over six stages moved north towards Guilin which hosted the final stage. Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) dominated the sprinting, winning the first three and the final stage. It was on the steep finale on stage 4 where the GC was decided, when Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) rode away to take the stage, and went on to win the race overall ahead of Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and Nicolas Roche (BMC Racing).

The next two editions of the race followed a very similar format and route, with organisers clearly happy with the way the tour was put together. It was Gianni Moscon (Team Sky) who took the win in 2018, followed by Enric Mas (Movistar) in 2019. In 2020, the race was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and continued to be sidelined in 2021 and 2022.