A cyclist sets off during the Individual Time Trial of the 2019 Tour of Taihu Lake on Oct 9. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2019 Tour of Taihu Lake, an annual international cycling race that started in 2010, is being held across six cities alongside Taihu Lake in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces from Oct 9 to 15. Wuxi, as the event's first venue, hosted the Individual Time Trial on Oct 9 as a lead up to the event. The Binhu Circuit was then held on Oct 10, pitting the world's fastest cyclists against one another.

The seven-day Tour of Taihu Lake is listed on the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Asia Tour Calendar as a Class 2.1 event and features one prologue and six stages. Cyclists will ride a total distance of 630.7 km and $ 400,000 will be given out in prize money. A total of 126 athletes on 21 teams from over 40 countries have been invited to participate in the race, including three teams from the Tour of Italy and one wild card team from the Tour of Spain.

Winning cyclists pop champagne on the podium on Oct 9. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Tour of Taihu Lake. An opening ceremony was held today at the Light of Lihu Lake Part in Wuxi's Binhu district, with Wuxi Party Secretary Li Xiaomin and Wuxi Mayor Huang Qin attending along with a number of other officials from Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. They celebrated the event's achievements over the past decade and announced the start of the first stage of the tour.