The Tour of Shanghai: New Cities 2026 will take place from Sept 4 to 6 across Shanghai's "five new cities" — suburban towns in Jiading, Songjiang, Qingpu, Fengxian, and Nanhui, also known as Lin-gang in Pudong New Area.

A total of 21 professional teams from 12 countries — China, Italy, Spain, Malaysia, Thailand, Colombia, the United States, Slovenia, Estonia, Australia, France, and South Korea — will compete.

The event will kick off on Sept 3 with a launch ceremony at the Meet-the-World Lounge, followed by a riders' parade along the Bund.

In 2025, the race was upgraded to a UCI 2.2 event, becoming Shanghai's first men's road cycling race to join the UCI Asia Tour.

Three stages across five new cities

The 95.3-kilometer Jiading stage on Sept 4 will take riders past landmarks including the Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai Citizen Sports Park, and Yuanxiang Lake.

The 94.8-km Songjiang–Qingpu stage on Sept 5 will pass Shanghai Happy Valley, Guangfulin Cultural Relics Park, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, and Zhujiajiao Ancient Town.

The final stage, from Fengxian to Nanhui on Sept 6, will cover 100.2 km, making it 5.7 km longer than last year's route. The Dishui Lake IC Innovation Harbor will be included for the first time.

Amateur riders take on a professional course

This year's amateur race will be upgraded to an elite amateur race. For the first time, amateur riders will be able to compete on a complete course also used by the professionals. After the professional field sets off on Sept 6, 20 elite amateur teams will take to the same Fengxian–Nanhui course. Registration for the elite amateur race opened at 10 am on Aug 10.

Virtual racing and satellite venues

The virtual race has also been expanded, with online competition organized in partnership with nearly 500 stores of well-known bicycle brands nationwide. It includes two categories: open and university. Registration opened and online qualifiers began on Aug 10.

The top 20 riders from each category will advance to the offline finals at satellite venues in Jiading and Songjiang. The top four riders in each category, eight in total, will form a wildcard team and take part in the elite amateur race on Sept 6.

This year, satellite venues in shopping districts across the five new cities will also offer race viewing, virtual cycling experiences, and interactive activities.

Source: Shanghai Observer