On December 24th, with the support of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Good Neighborhood and Friendship Cooperation Committee, the SCO National Digital Technology Platform, and the Foreign Affairs Office of the People's Government of Heilongjiang Province, jointly organized by the China Cycling Association, the Heilongjiang Provincial Sports Bureau, and the Harbin Municipal People's Government, the 2023 Shanghai Cooperation Organization Snow Bike Cycling Race, which was planned and guided by the Harbin Municipal Sports Bureau, opened with gunshots at the Harbin Grand Theater.

Zhang Haihua, Vice Mayor of Harbin Municipal People's Government, Tong Dan, Assistant to the Executive Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Practitioners Committee and CEO of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization National Digital Technology Platform, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. Officials from the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Harbin and the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in China, as well as relevant units such as the China Cycling Association, Heilongjiang Provincial Sports Bureau, and Harbin Municipal Sports Bureau, were present the opening ceremony.

The amazing ice and snow track is the biggest highlight of this competition, starting from the iconic building of Harbin - Harbin Grand Theater, overlooking the ice and snow world from afar, crossing the Songhua River, passing through the National Wetland Park, 5A scenic spot-Sun Island, and crossing the main scenic area of the Snow Expo. Nearly a thousand cyclists from 8 countries including China, Iran, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan participated in the competition on-site, and more than 20000 cyclists from around the world attended online.

On the 24th, the men's excellent group, age group, and women's group races took the lead. After intense competition, Russian player EVGRAFOV EVGENII won the championship of the excellent group, ZALAVTSEVIAN won the runner up, and Chinese player Sun Chengyi won the third place; In the men's youth group, Chinese athlete Meng Fanxu won the championship, Zhao Jianhang and Liu Jiaqi won the second and third places respectively; In the women's group, Chinese athlete Yu Guangdong won the championship, Hu Yanxia won the runner up, and Ma Qiuxiang won the third place; Ye Zhenchao, Wang Yuanshan, and Zhao Long respectively won the championship in the men's middle-aged group, men's master group, and men's 55+group. In the team competition, the RussiaMTB team won the championship, the Beijing GDR Season Cycling TUKUS China united team won the runner up, and the Magene BROSS team won the third place. On the 25th, there will also be children's and experience group competitions.

As the first international ice and snow sports event jointly participated by countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, this race is the debut event for creating the Harbin core area of the China Shanghai Cooperation Organization ice and snow sports demonstration zone, which is a vivid practice of high-level promotion, high standard planning, and high-level construction of the China Shanghai Cooperation Organization ice and snow sports demonstration zone. (Photographed by Tao Gang)