By the Sports Administration, Ministry of Education, R.O.C. (Taiwan)

The Fun Sports in Taiwan Launch Ceremony and Tour de Taiwan Pre-Tour Press Conference jointly organized by the Sports Administration, Ministry of Education, and the Chinese Taipei Cycling Association was held on March 15, 2019. Ambassadors and official representatives of foreign embassies and representative offices in Taiwan, representatives of Tour stages of the Tour de Taiwan, the Chinese Taipei cycling team and two teams of international elite riders, representatives of the organizers of the 100 sports events to be held in 2019 as well as enterprise sponsors jointly opened the curtain on 2019 Fun Sports in Taiwan.  

The launch ceremony was coupled with the press conference for one of the 100 major sports events of 2019 – the Tour de Taiwan. The atmosphere was lively, and further excitement added by a performance of street dance combined with Taiwan’s traditional formation culture by TSD Taiwan dance troupe that blessed the 100 events and also symbolically wished the Tour de Taiwan good luck.

The Tour de Taiwan is the only UCI sanctioned class 1 cycling event held in Taiwan from March 17 to March 21 and included five classic stages; it set off in Taipei, then pass through Taoyuan, along the Hakka Romantic Avenue, through Tainan County and then end in Pingtung County. Over 200 elite riders from 20 teams around the world battled out for the yellow jersey. All the five stages tested the riders’ mettle. Three-time in succession tour King of the Mountains Feng Chun-kai will again lead the way for the Chinese Taipei Team, accompanied by professional riders Tu Chih-hao and new generation hopes, aiming to do their best to win glory for the team.

The Sports Administration stated that the 100 sports events organized in 2018 achieved good results in terms of number of viewers, sales of sports lottery tickets and the level of competition, and attracted 800,000 spectators at the venues and over 100 million broadcast viewers, showing the wide appeal of sports competitions. Sporting circles, the business community, fans, viewers and media reporters were specially thanked for their strong support. Looking toward Tokyo 2020, 2019 is a year for all-out preparation and building up for the big stage for athletes. The Sports Administration will continue to play the role of provider of home advantage for athletes, and hopes that, through organizing international sports events, Taiwan’s profile, competitive level and the popularity of sport viewing, at venues or at home, could be raised.

To allow people to easily search for the information on international sports event, continuing the passion of Fun Sports in Taiwan of 2018, the Sports Administration continues to display the 100 events through the categories of “Taiwan Hito”, “Sports for all”, “Women’s Events” and “Juniors Events” and handed out the 2019 sports event calendar at the venue. This year, the various sports events will be promoted in cooperation with civil sports centers across Taiwan. International sports event capacity building and dissemination of event results will also be achieved through diverse promotion activities and results presentation ceremony. This year, splendid sports events will successively take the stage across Taiwan and will attract top athletes from around the world. The Sports Administration invites everyone to cheer on the athletes, in particular the local athletes, with family and friends and also enjoy broadcast of the events through different media channels. 

For the 2019 international sports event calendar and event information, visit the Sports Administration website (www.sa.gov.tw) and the Fun Sports in Taiwan webpage (https://funsportsintaiwan.accupass.com/) or obtain information from the Fun Sports in Taiwan Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/huntSportsinTaiwan/). For more information about the Tour de Taiwan, visit the official website (http://www.tourdetaiwan.org.tw) or the Tour de Taiwan Facebook page.