We will finish the 2019 season with the Tour of Guangxi in China on Tuesday 22nd October, the final race of the UCI Women’s WorldTour.

The 145km race is identical to the 2018 edition, where the weather conditions and two main climbs in quick succession in the middle of the race, are again likely to dictate the size of the group arriving to fight for the win in Guilin.

While some of their teammates have already started their off-season, Hannah Barnes, Tanja Erath, Rotem Gafinovitz, Ella Harris, Hannah Ludwig and Christa Riffel will finish their season with Tuesday’s race.

“It was my choice to finish my season in China. I like finishing later because then the winter doesn’t feel so long. I am still motivated and I’m enjoying my training so I’m happy,” said Hannah Barnes.

Her teammate, Tanja Erath also raced last year’s race. “Overall the racing is more comparable to American races, since the roads are wide and therefore mistakes in positioning are easier to correct. Since it’s the last race of the season for almost everyone the atmosphere in the peloton is pretty good and everyone wants one final good race and result. So, I’m really looking forward to race China again!”

Find out what the riders expect from the final road race of the 2019 season.

Hannah Barnes

“It’s quite a long race with a bit of everything. The first 90km is flat and easy and then we hit the climbs which last year saw some action although it all came back together for a bunch sprint.” 

“I had a good race last year and would love to finish the year with a result I can be proud of.”

Tanja Erath

“Tour of Guangxi was a pretty special race last year. Everybody has a long travel in the legs (around 30 hours) and is quite jet-lagged racing in the middle of the night in CEST. The humidity and air quality does the rest to make it a tough day in the saddle.”

“For these reasons and because of the length of the race, the racing is less aggressive and attacks were made on the climb rather than on the flat and open roads. That’s what I expect this year too. I hope that I can use my climbing progress to follow the attacks over both climbs.”

“Since I knew that I’m racing in China since December last year, it wasn’t difficult to continue my season until now. I planned the training with my coach until that day and knew that my season won’t end beforehand. Since I’m not a big fan of the off season and often feel in best shape at the end of the season, I even like to have a late race like China.”

“The only thing that I struggle with is to get the mindset for another long travel. This season had a lot of long and sometimes exhausting travels, so another 30 hours seems the biggest challenge to me at the moment.
But I still feel super fit, the weather is nice again and I love autumn lights, so I really enjoy training right now.”

Ella Harris

“My personal goal for Tour of Guangxi is to have a strong final race of the season in order to finish my first year on a good note. I aim to give everything I have out there as one last push before I head home to New Zealand, and to leave China feeling satisfied that I’ve more than earned a little ‘off the bike’ time at last. There has been solid success here previously for Hannah and the team, so I’d like to help try to replicate that again.”

“I’ve found it surprisingly difficult to continue working towards this final event of the season and was a little unmotivated coming out of the world championships. I think this is because it’s a reasonable gap of three weeks between races for me, so I didn’t have a goal on the immediate horizon to keep working towards.  I’ve been training solidly so I’m still in good shape and I’m excited to see how I can use this for the team in China. I think the ‘off the bike’ experience should be quite interesting too!”

Hannah Ludwig

“I didn’t race last year but it looks like the climbs will be a decisive point of the race. I’ll be aiming to be helpful for the team and to get over the climbs well.”

“I’ve had no problem to continue training for the race in China. I’m happy, I’m very motivated, and I feel in good shape. I want to take everything that I have learned this year, and put it into practice in Tour of Guangxi. That, for me, would make it a good conclusion to my season!”

Christa Riffel

“As it is the same race course as last year, I expect quite a similar race. Being the last WorldTour race of the season the level will still be high even if the most riders are already enjoying their off season. Two climbs one just after another in the middle of the race will probably decide the constitution of the group going for the win.”

“My personal goal for the race is to be confident and end the season on a high together with the team so we can go into the off season with a happy mind.”

Rotem Gafinovitz

“My goal for the race is to close the season on a high, as I feel the last races didn’t go as I had planned. I really want this race to go my way.”

“With this in mind, the preparation and lead up to China wasn’t too hard and I’ve easily kept high motivation to work hard and be ready for a great team race! I’m really looking forward to race with the team for the last time this year.”

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