November 30, 2017
Today was the day of the first official press conference on Tour of Slovakia which is to be held on September 12 – 16, 2018. In 2017 the races were classified in the higher category – UCI 2.1, which meant getting more UCI points, bigger “prize money” for riders and higher-quality teams at the start.
The 62nd edition will be extraordinary as the Quick-Step Floors Cycling Team is among the first to confirm the participation and having our support for as many as eight seasons the next year. It is thanks to our support and good relationships with the whole team that we have agreed to the participation in Tour of Slovakia. In this way, spectators will have a chance to meet the riders of one of the best World Tour teams.
Bora Hansgrohe – another well-know team in which most Slovaks ride also confirmed the participation. And as for the third World tour team – Bahrain Merida, the negotiations are still underway. Participations are already confirmed by the procontinental CCC Sprandi Polkowice team of Poland, Cofidis of France, Bardiani of Italia, and the Russian Gazprom Rusvelo. Even the national continental team – Dukla Banská Bystrica and the best European continental teams will not miss the opportunity to ride the race.
Tour of Slovakia (UCI 2.1) kicks off on September 12, 2018 as a race-opening prologue in Poprad. The very first Tatra stage finishing in Štrbské Pleso will be copying a part of Tour de Pologne stage, which we organised in 2014. Over the second stage the riders will be moving to Dubnica nad Váhom, a seedbed for cycling champions, where a quite interesting final will be waiting for peloton on the stadium with the oval track. Then, the races go on from Dubnica to Nitra – which was also one of the stage towns last year. The 62nd Tour of Slovakia reaches its peak with the sprint final on September 16, 2018 in Galanta.
