The Wiggle Dragon Ride Wales is set to be the UK round of the UCI “Golden Bike” World Series from 2012 – confirming the South Wales event as one of the eight most beautiful rides taking place in the world next year.

For many years regarded as the top UK Cyclosportive ride, and having been voted as the favourite sportive by readers of Cycling Weekly for the past three years, the Wiggle Dragon Ride has been accepted as a round of the UCI Golden Bike World series of road cycling marathon events.

With the 2011 event set to take place on 5 June and feature 4000 riders, event organiser, Lou Lusardi, commented:

“We have had aspirations of becoming a round of the Golden Bike series since 2005, and we’re delighted to have achieved it now.

“The UCI has observed the event and made various recommendations, which have improved the event bringing it into line with those already in the series. I am pleased and honoured that we have finally achieved the kudos and status as the premier British cyclosportive event by becoming part of the Golden Bike World Series. This is also a major achievement for a small country like Wales to be up with the European hierarchy of cycling”

The Wiggle Dragon Ride Wales was one of the very first British Cyclosportive events and the first to gain access to the UCI calendar in 2006. First run in 2004 with 280 riders, and based now in Bridgend and with over 4000 entrants, the ride is open to anyone fit enough to ride over 100 miles of the challenging mountain road climbs in South Wales and the Brecon Beacons.

The event has attracted some of the top cyclists in the UK ranging from Tour de France riders, TV celebrities, business leaders and the ordinary cyclist who aspires to being Lance Armstrong for the day.

The Golden Bike series, now in its twelfth year was set up by the World governing body of cycling, the UCI (Union Cyclists International), as a series of top cycle challenge rides from countries around the world. The series takes in classic events in Flanders Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, and New Zealand and also includes the largest timed mass participation event in the world, The Cape Cycletour in South Africa with 38,000 riders.

UCI plans for the future will include additional events in Asia and North America making this a true global series of events. Riders who sign up to the series can, have a passport card signed off by organisers of the events and will receive a prize and an introduction to a hall of fame once all events have been “ticked off”.

The Dragon Ride is sponsored by online cycle and sports goods store Wiggle, the UK’s top online cycle retailer, Wiggle’s top of the range own brand bikes, Verenti, are named after one of the Dragon Ride climbs, the Rhigos.

The event’s official charity partner is the Prostate Cancer Charity, who as well as raising much needed funding in the fight for cancer treatment, are also looking to make the predominantly male world of cycling more aware of prostate illnesses.

The 2011 event takes place on Sunday 5 June and starts at Pencoed in South Wales. Three distances can be chosen 30, 75 and 120 miles with the longest having almost 10,000 feet of climbing. So popular is the event that the 4000 places released in December were all taken in 22 hours. Organisers, Breakaway Cycling, hope to increase the number of places available in the future, ideally following the format of it’s overseas cousins by having traffic free roads on the route of the ride.

UCI Golden Bike list of events 2012:

• March – Cape Argus, Pick n Pay Cycletour. Cape Town, South Africa.
• April – Tour of Flanders, Brugge, Belgium.
• June – Wiggle Dragon Ride, Pencoed, Bridgend, South Wales, UK
• June – Quebrantahuesos, Sabinanigo, Spain
• June – L’Ariegeoise , Tarascon, France
• July – laPinarello, Treviso, Italy
• November – Contact Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge, Taupo, New Zealand
• TBA – Switzerland

For more information see: http://www.wiggledragonride.com