Source: www.guardian.co.tt

The world governing body for the sport of cycling, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) or the International Cycling Union, has officially announced the inclusion of the Tobago Cycling Classic into the international cycling calendar of UCI sanctioned events. T&T is the first ever english speaking Caribbean country to have a national cycling event listed in the cycling body’s official programme of events. The Tobago Cycling Classic in it’s 25th anniversary was founded in 1986 by Jeffrey Charles who adopted the event from the Tobago Cycling Race which was initiated in 1983 by a group of friends from Tobago and developed the event from one which featured no regional or international competitors to one which attracts more than 500 participants and fans from over 30 countries.

In 2010, the Tobago Cycling Classic was challenged from athletes from the Caribbean, Latin America, the USA, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. After growing standards of competition in every passing year, the race began to receive positive reviews from the regional and international cycling fraternity which eventually led to the attention of the UCI Committee. In a release, Pierre Hutsebaut, UCI International Cycling Union Tour Adviser for the Americas praised the event organiser and committee for the achievement of gaining international accreditation from the UCI. “The World Cycling Body applauses the relentless effort of the event organiser Jeffrey Charles and his committee on their achievement in elevating the Tobago Cycling Classic to international status. The UCI Committee looks forward to this new alliance,” said Hutsebaut on behalf of the UCI.

The accreditation of the UCI branding is expected to significantly increase the involvement of major international cycling countries, federations, national teams and professional teams which all seek to challenge UCI events in order to achieve sought after UCI points with the intention to improve individual and team ranking on the world stage. Tobago is also expected to reap monumental benefits while being marketed as a legitimate destination for sporting tourism through exposure on sporting networks, sport magazines and sporting Web sites. The Tobago Cycling Classic will take place this year between September 27 to October 2.