Fans and enthusiasts at the 2016 UCI Road World Championships booth at 2015 Japan Cup Road Race in Japan’s Utsunomiya Forest Park.

Agencies/Utsunomiya, Japan

Officials from Doha 2016 met with top cycling officials and fans over the last two days at Utsunomiya Forest Park where the 2015 Japan Cup Cycle Road Race took place.
The organisers of the 2016 UCI Road World Championships erected a promotional booth at the event venue in Tochigi Prefecture and invited cycling enthusiasts to take part in the hugely popular ‘Doha 2016 Selfie Contest’ that was a major hit at 2015 Richmond Road World Championships held in the United States late last month.
“The Organising Committee of Doha 2016 has been working closely with UCI to make sure that next year’s event is very successful,” said Sheikh Khalid bin Ali al-Thani, Organizing Committee chairman for Doha 2016. “Our team is in Japan and from there they will visit more countries to promote our event,” he added.
Cycling fans were urged to take their best shot on the theme of 2016 UCI Road World Championships. “The photos must carry a fun caption. It could be posted on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram,” Amani al-Dosari, Doha 2016 managing director said at Utsunomiya Forest Park on Saturday.
“The photos must mention @UCIDoha2016 or add the hashtag #UCIRWCDoha2016,” she added.
During her interview with CRT Radio, she explained about the Mass Event, which will take place in Doha 2016, and she invited all the fans to join.
The latest promotional event comes a week after Doha 2016 kicked-off a one-year countdown to the 2016 UCI Road World Championships. The October 9-16 event will bring together dozens of teams and thousands of cycling fans to the Qatari capital. The event consists of a road race, a team time-trial and a time-trial for elite men and women, and a road race and time-trial for men under-23, junior men and junior women.
The championship will make its debut in the Middle East. Qatar will become the second country in Asia after Japan to host the UCI Road World Championships.
“We have received an overwhelming response from cycling fans in Japan,” Dr. Mohammed al-Kuwari, Organizing Committee deputy chairman said on Saturday.
“We have delivered the message about our event, telling fans that Doha is preparing to host an event which is unique considering the UCI Road World Championships have never been held in the Middle East before,” said Ahmed al-Hemaidi, Organising Committee executive director.
Earlier, Doha 2016 delegation attended the Dream Bike Tour Korea, which was organised by Fortuna Inc.
The five-day event was held from Korea to Andong, with participants from different countries of Europe, Korea and Australia. The organising committee is trying to make use of regional opportunities to best promote the event at the Asian level.