The "Good Luck Beijing" 2007 International Road Cycling Invitational Race will be held in Beijing from August 18 to 19. To better assist the press in reporting the event, the press service team of the event held a press conference in Beijing on the afternoon of August 16, briefing the attending reporters on the characteristics of the event and reporting notes.

18 teams, 122 racers

The "Good Luck Beijing" 2007 International Road Cycling Invitational Race will be held in Beijing from August 18 to 19. An official event on this year's UCI calendar and one of "Good Luck Beijing" 2007 sport events, the race is sponsored by the Organizing Committee of "Good Luck Beijing" 2007 International Road Cycling Invitational Race and will follow UCI's competition rules. The event simply includes the men's road group and the men's road individual time trial with the competition quota as 6 and 3 for each team respectively.

Teams from a total of 18 countries and regions such as USA, Russia, Korea, Chinese Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei are to compete in the event.

Host China sent a strong lineup consisting of Team A, B and C with a total of 17 racers. Chinese Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei sent 9 and 6 racers respectively. Additionally, Luxembourg, with the smallest participation scale, sent only one racer and two officials.

High altitude, beautiful scenes

The course of "Good Luck Beijing" 2007 International Road Cycling Invitational Race will be exactly that of the road cycling event at the Beijing Olympic Games next year. The full length of the group competition is 174km. The racers will start from Yongdingmen, one of Beijing's most famous scenic spots, by way of such famous scenic spots as the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, Yonghegong Palace, Temple of Earth Park, the Beijing Olympic Tower and the Summer Palace, and enter the suburban stage via Badaling Highway.

The length between the start point and Juyongguan is 78.8km, the racers will start taking four circles from Juyongguan and reach the finish point. The single-circle length and total length of this stage are 23.8km and 95.2km respectively, including the ascending and descending sections with the lowest and highest elevation as 40.179m and 650.85m respectively.

Then the racers will shuttle between the Badaling Great Wall and the Juyongguan Great Wall, enjoying good views of the famous Great Wall and other scenic spots all the way along the course. Thus, reporters believed that it was by no means exaggerated to honor the course of the road cycling event of the Beijing Olympic Games as one of the most beautiful courses in the Olympic history.

Traffic control, press bus

Beijing will carry out a traffic control during the event, motor vehicles will move according to the single & number system. Besides the shuttle buses for reporters, the organizing committee has prepared six camera cars and two camera motorcycles for the interviewing convenience of the accompanying news cameramen.

Nevertheless, due to the particularity of the road cycling event, considering circumstances such as course enclosure, traffic control and cross of part of road at Juyongguan and the course, the relevant responsible person reminded the press, "We strongly advise all the reporters taking shuttle buses to go on punctually. Besides, all those driving themselves shall reach Juyongguan as soon as possible during the break between two competition days, or they will have difficulty in interviewing due to course closure."

Regarding that, Shen Kai, photographic manager of road cycling suggested, "All the reporters driving themselves shall reach Juyongguan at 2:30 p.m. August 18 and at 12:30 a.m. August 19 at least."

Juyongguan press center ready to work

Due to the long course of the event, all major media services will be provided at the finish point Juyongguan. The press conference room of the event with an area of 200 square meters is set at Taikang Building, Ancient Inn, Juyongguan and is capable of accommodating 80 reporters. Two reporter stands are erected at the start point Yongdingmen Gate and the finish point Juyongguan, the former provides 50 seats and the latter provides 60 seats with tables and 20 without tables. However, as the racers stop at the start point for a short period of time, only the reporter stand at the finish point is equipped with power supplies and provides paid cable and wireless networking services.

At the press conference, Meng Weiming, vice media director of road cycling course, expressed that the number of the seats of the start and finish stands of the event were limited due to the nature of "Good Luck Beijing" 2007 International Road Cycling Invitational Race, but the reporters having registered for the event had gone far beyond the expectation of the organizing committee. Thus, to avoid disorder during the event, reporters shall wear corresponding auxiliary passes besides the accreditation cards with photos, especially the television and text reporters entering the reporter stands and the interviewing area, those demanding free passage shall apply for relevant auxiliary passes in advance.

The two auxiliary passes for the event are used at the start and finish stands and limited to the interviewing area respectively, and shall not be used in a mixed way. The auxiliary passes have been issued according to the predetermined quota at today's press conference, other media units may obtain them from the stand supervisor or the interviewing area supervisor at the start point at Yongdingmen and the finish point at Juyongguan on August 18 when the event opens.