The Tour of Qinghai Lake, a cycling event around the largest lake in China, concluded its 21st edition this month.

At 3,196 meters above sea level, the salt lake is in a hollow of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, setting the stage for the men's elite individual race from July 26 to August 3 to take place in high altitudes in northwest China's Qinghai Province.

Spanning over 20 years, the race is the oldest and most challenging road cycling race in China. It is also one of only three International Cycling Union (UCI) Asia Tour races on the Pro Series. The others are the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia held in March and the Japan Cup in October.

This year, the eight-day event featured 147 cyclists from 21 Chinese teams, including eight UCI teams, riding through eight stages and 1,488 kilometers (1,105km stage distance plus 383km transfer distance).

Winners

Liu Jiankun

The triumph of the Tour of Qinghai Lake marked a new beginning for 27-year-old Liu, who celebrated his birthday on June 21.

Hailing from northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Liu was a member of the Heilongjiang Provincial Team that clinched the gold medal in the men's 100km team trial cycling event at the 14th National Games of China in 2021.

Liu was a member of the Australian cycling team Mitchelton-Scott in 2017 and transferred to the Mitchelton–BikeExchange team in 2018.

This year, Liu competed on a five-member team from Pingtan, southeast China's Fujian Province, that was founded on January 1, 2022.

The team flew over 2,700km from Fujian to Qinghai 10 days ahead of the race to train at the higher altitude.

"To be honest, I did not expect to win the individual championship before the race," said Liu after his win. "My confidence was boosted when I took the lead in Stage 3."

"After that, my teammates and I gradually improved our game plan and focused on the target during the competition. In the end, the team and I have achieved unprecedented results, and everyone is very happy," he said.

Stage routes and UCI teams

Stage 2 was the longest with a distance of 167km. Stage 5 had the highest altitude, peaking at 3,798 meters.

The eight UCI teams are as follows:

1. Guangzhou Hurricane and Thunder Cycling Team

2. Henan Bodywrap Cycling Team

3. Giant Cycling Team

4. Li Ning Star Cycling Team

5. Pingtan International Tourism Island Cycling Team

6. Pardus Cycling Team

7. Shenzhen Xidesheng Cycling Team

8. Qinghai Tianyoude Hotel Cycling Team

Landscape along the Tour of Qinghai Lake