Cycling: ASO and Activation Group to launch "Le Tour de France" events in China, in November 2016

Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), organiser of the Tour de France, and Activation Group, a Chinese marketing agency specialising in luxury brands, announced the creation of official "Le Tour de France" events in China, to begin in November 2016, on 24/07/2016.

Events include a "Tour de France Criterium" for professional cyclists, in the model of that which already exists in Japan since 2013 ("Le Tour de France Saitama Criterium"). ASO has initiated the development of cycling races in the Middle East with the Tour of Qatar (founded in 2002), the Ladies Tour of Qatar (2009), and the Tour of Oman (2010).

ASO will also launch the event "L’Etape by Le Tour de France" in China, a cycling race event for amateurs, similar to the one that takes place each year in France on the sidelines of the Tour de France. A similar race is already established in several other countries: United Kingdom (England and Wales), Paraguay, Brazil, Mexico, and Australia.

• The 2016 Tour de France was completed on the Champs de Elysees in Paris (FRA) with the victory of the British cyclist Christopher Froome (Sky…