Corsica and Wales will both host one-day races next season.

Corsica 

Corsica is looking to benefit from a successful Grand Depart for the 2013 Tour de France and race organisers, the Corsican Regional Authority (CRA) and Bernard Hinault mat last week to present the UCI registered race.

It will take place on the 26th of March and will be called the Corsica Classica. 18 teams will take part but there is no UCI ranking yet and although there is no schedule for the UCI calendar, the race is expected to be in a busy week that also includes E3-Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem and the Volta a Catalunya.

This will be Corsica’s second UCI race after the Criterium International.

The 2015 Corsica Classica route is 203.8 kilometres long and will take the riders from Ajaccio – the island's capital – to the second largest city, Bastia. Corsica played host last year's Tour de France Grand Depart, and the race will take in many of the same climbs as the second stage - although it will be run in reverse.

Jan Bakelants won that day and he also took the Yellow Jersey. The ascents will include the Col de Vizzavona, which, at 1,163 metres, was given second category status at the Tour. Organisers have a 200,000-euro budget to begin with but they hope to eventually turn the one-day race into a stage race.

Wales

Wales will host its first UCI categorized trace after taking a leaf from the RideLondon Classic’s book. There will be a 120km sportive in the morning followed by a pro event in the afternoon.

There is very tough terrain in South Wales, as shown by a difficult 2014 British Road Race Championships, won by Sky’s Peter Kennaugh.

The race will start and end in Cardiff and will take in Caerphilly Mountain and the Tumble climb in the Brecon Beacons. Caerphilly has often been used in the Tour of Britain and has pitches of 17% in its short ascent. These climbs make the pro race very unlikely to end in a sprint finish.

The Velothon Wales is not the first Velothon, with the Velothon Berlin being the biggest success story, with winners including Marcel Kittel, Andre Greipel and most recently, Raymond Kreder. Organizer Roland Hofer is hoping Wales will be as big a success as Berlin.

“Having worked as Race Director for Velothon Berlin since 2009, I am hugely excited to be part of the team that will be delivering Velothon Wales,” Hofer said in an official statement. “Each year Velothon Berlin attracts a stellar elite field which, combined with thousands of participants taking on the exact same route, creates a truly memorable day of cycling. We are looking forward to Velothon Wales emulating its success in every respect.”

The event will bring Britain’s number of UCI ranked races up to 5, along with the Tour of Britain, the new Women’s Tour of Britain and the Three Day Tour of Yorkshire, also expected to start next year.

The race has no UCI category yet, but the Velothon Berlin is ranked 1.1, and Wales is expected to be the same.