The women’s Tour of Guangxi, a one-day WorldTour event since 2018, has been cut from the 2026 calendar. The race was due to run on October 18 in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and has been removed from the UCI schedule with no replacement.

Race director Olivier Senn attributed the decision to the regional authorities, telling Escape Collective that the organiser had tried to keep the women’s event alive but could not.

“Despite Wanda Sports China trying everything they could to save the women’s race at least for 2026, the government decided to withdraw the support,” Senn said.

The six-day men’s stage race is still on. The 2026 men’s edition runs from October 13 to 18 as the seventh running of the race, again under Wanda Group and the People’s Government of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Senn confirmed the men’s event is secured for 2026 and 2027 by the current contract between Wanda Sports China and the provincial government, with negotiations open on what happens beyond that window.

Read also: 'If it's difficult, you call José': Mourinho's Real Madrid return begins with a night of chaos

Provincial cash is tight in China

The pressure on Guangxi is not a cycling story alone. Chinese provinces have cut their revenue forecasts for 2026 after the country’s property downturn, and the collapse in land-use rights sales, historically a large share of local income, has left regions squeezed. Analysts at Fitch Ratings, cited by the South China Morning Post, expect regional authorities to keep cutting rather than spending.

“We believe local governments will prioritise debt control rather than pursue rapid expansion in infrastructure investment to prop up growth,” Fitch wrote.

That backdrop shapes the Guangxi problem. Bankrolling a WorldTour race, with UCI fees, television production, hospitality and travel for the entire men’s peloton, is the kind of discretionary spending that comes under strain when a province’s own revenue is falling.

What the calendar stands to lose

The Tour of Guangxi was launched in 2017 as China’s return to the top tier of men’s cycling after the Tour of Beijing came off the calendar, and it has closed the men’s WorldTour season nearly every year since. It disappeared for three seasons during the COVID-19 pandemic before returning in 2023.

Read also: Prosecutors win four-month delay in Billups poker fraud trial

If the men’s race follows the women’s off the schedule beyond 2027, the calendar will pull back to Il Lombardia as the effective end of the men’s WorldTour season. That would leave riders and teams without a mandatory late-October Asian target and thin out points-scoring opportunities in the closing month.

The 2026 men’s Tour of Guangxi starts on October 13.

Read also: Manchester United's £70m Baleba signing splits the club's own legends