KUNMING, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Craig Stuart from Australia and Annemiek Irene Stegehuis from Netherlands won the first stage of 2018 Colorful Yunnan International Granfondo Cycling Festival in Mang shi, Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province on Saturday in men's and women's categories respectively.

The first stage was an individual time trial with 8.3-kilometer route, which have a lot of climbing, slopes and turns. Stuart finished his race in 12 minutes and 47 seconds. "It was very hard, very complicated. Everyday I will raise my best, it is Granfondo, and just go," said Stuart.

Stegehuis completed her race in 15 minutes and 46 seconds. "The slope was difficult and hard, but it was also nice because it makes difference on the stage, the view was really nice," Stegehuis said.

It is a multi-day cycling event in five different cities, including six stages - Mangshi, Ruili, Tengchong, Dali and Lijiang. The total length is over 600 kilometers. Nearly 1,500 cyclists from 26 countries and regions have participated in it.

This cycling festival, which is often called Granfondo Yunnan for short, is the fifth edition this year. It is personal challenge to complete the distance for each participant, originating from Italy.

Thousands of cyclists have visited Yunnan to join the race in the past four years. The beautiful course and rich tourism resources in Yunnan have made this event more and more popular.