The winner of the Tour de Korea 2017, Min Kyeongho (center), poses for a photo during the awards ceremony at the Peace Plaza, at the Olympic Park in Seoul on June 18. (Korea Sports Promotion Foundation)
By Min Yea-Ji and Kim Young Shin
Min Kyeongho became the first Korean champion of the Tour de Korea on June 18, becoming the first Korean to ever win an international race of this caliber. Korea’s top cycling competition became an official 2.1-category race, as classified by the International Cycling Union (UCI), in 2014.
Min finished stages 1 to 5 of the Tour de Korea 2017, held from June 14 to 18, in 17 hours, 47 minutes and 46 seconds, and claimed the yellow jersey, which is given to the solo winner of the general classification category. He beat Edwin Alcibiades Avila Vanegas, racing for a U.S. team, by seven seconds. Min also took the white jersey given to the Best Young Rider, the highest scorer among cyclists younger than 23-years-old.
“It wasn’t an individual victory. It was achieved by everybody’s cooperation,” said the winner. “Thanks to my teammates, I could overcome the challenge and be the winner.”
He thanked his teammates again by saying that, “It was everyone’s effort that brought these results.”
As mentioned, the Tour de Korea was promoted to a 2.1-category race by the UCI in 2014. Min is now the first Korean athlete to win an official UCI 2.1 race. Before this, Park Sung-Beak won in the general classification category in Tour de Korea 2012.
The annual Tour de Korea has been held since 2007.
This year, 118 cyclists from 11 nations took part in the Tour de Korea. They took off on June 14 in Yeosu, Jeollanam-do Province, rode 778.9 kilometers through Gunsan-si City, Muju-gun County in Jeollabuk-do Province, Yeongju-si City in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, Chungju-si City in Chungcheongbuk-do Province, and onward to the final destination in Seoul, to finish their five-day race.
jesimin@korea.kr
