Masters of cycling head to Western Australia for first leg of world tour

Perth has been named as the host city for the first ever World Cycling Tour qualifying event.

The recent announcement by international cycling body, Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), will be a fantastic addition to Western Australia’s events calendar.

The tour is a series of up to 15 UCI-sanctioned races that will be held all over the world with the top 10 per cent in each age group receiving the right to race in the final for the coveted rainbow jersey.

This is very exciting news for WA, as Perth is the only city in Australia with exclusive rights to host this event for at least the next three years.

It is proposed that the UWCT in Perth will comprise nine categories, both male and female, commencing at the age of 30 and rising in five year brackets up to 65, with a Challenger Class for 16-29 year olds. The proposed course will feature 10 laps over a 14-kilometre circuit around Perth.

Mr Andrea Marcellini Mendonça from UCI said the organisation was delighted to have Perth as the opening event of the UCI World Cycling Tour. “Perth’s bid to host the event was very professional, showing the city’s infrastructure and tourist attractions which are perfect to receive international visitors,” Mr Marcellini Mendonça said.

The UCI World Cycling Tour will start in Perth on April 16, 2011.

For more information on the UCI World Cycling Tour visit http://www.uciworldtour.com.

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Festivals are a highlight of summer but penny-pinching after the global financial crisis has forced organisers to offer more free events.
The general manager of the Perth International Arts Festival, which begins in February, Julian Donaldson, says free events draw crowds to the city and are a boost to the local economy.

"We have always had a pretty big commitment to free events in our program. Our festival needs to have
a broad community benefit and we do that by making it accessible with free events," Donaldson says.

The festival's complimentary events, funded by Lotterywest and sponsors, are used as a magnet to draw attention to ticketed events.

The Perth International Arts festival has a budget of $14 million and Donaldson expects 220,000 people to attend ticketed events this year, and 600,000 visitors overall.

Despite good economic growth and low unemployment, Australian consumers have been reluctant to splurge, even on Christmas.
The Perth festival mostly draws punters from Western Australia but Donaldson hopes to attract more interstate and international visitors in the coming years through a partnership with Tourism WA.

"It could be a motivation to com or an added-value event when they get here ... but it could be the difference in deciding whether to come west or not," Donaldson says.

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