Cycling: Singapore to host first Tour de France criterium race in South-east Asia

SINGAPORE - The Tour de France brand is whizzing its way around the globe and Singapore will be the first South-east Asian country to host one of its post-tour criterium events.

The Tour de France Prudential Singapore Criterium will take place on Oct 29 and 30 on a specially designed street circuit in the heart of the city, in what is set to be another boost to Singapore’s sports tourism industry.

Decorated British cyclist Mark Cavendish, an Olympic silver medallist and four-time world champion who holds the joint record for the most Tour de France stage wins (34), spearheads 32 riders from eight of the world’s best professional cycling teams that will feature in the invitation-only race.

The event will add to the Republic’s burgeoning calendar of marquee sports events. Earlier this year, it was confirmed that the Singapore Grand Prix would remain on the Formula One calendar until 2028, while Sport Singapore also announced a bid to host the World Athletics Championships in 2025.

Mainstays on the calendar include golf’s SMBC Singapore Open and HSBC Women’s World Championship, as well as the HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens. 

This year, after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, top-class football also returns with the visit of Liverpool and Crystal Palace for the Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy. 

The Tour de France is an annual men’s cycling race primarily held in France over 21 stages and 23 days, usually in July, and covers around 3,500km. 

In comparison, its criteriums are shorter events that are also held in other countries like China and Japan. In these events, riders do a pre-determined number of laps or race for 30 to 90 minutes around a closed circuit. The length of each lap ranges from 800m to 10km.

Riders from each team will work together to set up their teammates for victory, and the race is won either through classification at the finish of the final lap or classification based on the number of laps covered and points obtained during the intermediate sprints.

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said Singapore was a “natural choice” because of its location, organisational capability and enthusiastic cycling community.

The Singapore Criterium race weekend will comprise races for both professionals and amateurs and is expected to reach millions of viewers worldwide through a variety of international broadcasters. 

CIMB private banking economist Song Seng Wun welcomed the initiative, saying: “Imagine the cameras taking viewers down Orchard Road or Marina Bay as the riders speed by – the event would be another layer to promote Singapore as a place to live, work or play via a different sport like cycling.

“The marketing value is difficult to ascertain, but cycling has become more popular during the pandemic and even non-cyclists would be aware of the Tour de France brand, so in terms of eyeballs, newsworthiness and branding, it’s easily worth millions to Singapore.”

While it is not immediately apparent how many foreign visitors will come for this event, Associate Professor Chang Tou Chuang of the National University of Singapore’s geography department and a tourism geographer, said it would still be positive for the Singapore brand.

He said: “Most immediately, participants and their families and entourages, as well as fans and international media will all spend a few days shopping, eating, and enjoying the sights and sounds of Singapore. But the lingering effect will remain.

“People who watch the event ‘live’ and those who read about it weeks later will have Singapore at the top of their mind. The event might also precipitate future sports and health and wellness-related events and meetings.”

After experiencing similar stops in Shanghai and Saitama, the Singapore Cycling Federation’s high performance director Shayne Bannan is thrilled by the chance to host the best riders in the world.

“The most obvious benefit is the education we will get in terms of what high-level racing is about,” he explained. “There will be opportunities for our cyclists and the fraternity to get involved in the cycling clinics, amateur races and community rides.”

The event is supported by the Singapore Tourism Board and promoted by TEG Sport in conjunction with Evoke EXP.

More details can be found at on its website and its Facebook (@tdf.singapore) and Instagram (@tdf.sg) pages.