The Tour of Chongming Island has been cancelled for the third year in a row due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UCI has announced.
The Chinese stage race was set to be the Women's WorldTour closer this year following the cancellation last week of the both the women's and men's Tour of Guangxi. However, the sport's governing body announced on Tuesday that the three-day event would not be taking place this October.
"In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UCI must announce that the Tour of Chongming Island, a UCI Women's WorldTour event which was due to take place from 13 to 15 October 2022, has had to be cancelled," read a statement issued by the UCI.
"This cancellation follows the decision taken by the event organiser due to the COVID-19 pandemic control measures that remain applicable."
From the 26 Women's WorldTour events announced at the beginning of 2022, 23 now remain, with the season opener of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race also cancelled.
The season is now set to draw to a close in Switzerland on October 9 with the conclusion of the inaugural Tour de Romandie Féminin. The race, which will run for three days, is set to end the 67-day 2022 WWT.
"The end date of the 2022 road season remains 18 October, as confirmed by the UCI Management Committee at its recent meeting," stated the UCI.
"The UCI would like to thank the event organiser and the Chinese National Federation for cycling for their cooperation in this difficult situation, as well as the athletes, teams and all parties concerned for their understanding."
The Tour of Chongming Island has been run since 2007, ascending to Women's WorldTour status upon the competition's creation in 2016.
With four victories across the combined stage race and one-day race (the race is now solely a stage race), Ina-Yoko Teutenberg is the record holder for wins at the race. Lorena Wiebes won the previous edition of the race in 2019, taking all three stages along the way.
The Women's WorldTour continues with the Giro d'Italia Donne on June 30.
