The Wiggle Dragon Ride has been awarded UCI Golden Bike status for 2012.

This year’s 4,150-rider event will take place on June 5, tackling a revised route which covers 200km through south Wales.

Already one of the highlights of the UK sportive calendar, the ride, established in 2004, has added another feather to its cap after being recognised by the UCI for its “excellent organisation, sporting value and touristic interest”- the three criteria for Golden Bike events.

“It’s been so many years of trying,” organiser Lou Lusardi told Cycling Weekly, who revealed he is looking to run the ride on closed roads in the future, like the Etape Caledonia, the UK’s biggest sportive.

“It will bring the event a lot more prestige. It will help immensely with coverage, especially in Wales and it’ll put us on a pedestal.

“We’ve been trying since 2005. It’s been an ongoing dialogue ever since then. I had hoped that we’d get it by 2008/9. The UCI sent commissaires to the event in 2008 and 2009. They made recommendations, which we enacted. We’ve worked really hard for it.”

The Dragon Ride will be joining seven other rides across the world, including the Tour of Flanders sportive in April, as well as the upcoming Quebrantahuesos in Spain and Cyclosportive L’Ariégeoisein France.

Riders who successfully complete an event receive a stamp in their Golden Bike Passport, with cyclists who tackle all eight sportives becoming a UCI Gold Rider.

• Check out RCUK’s top six UK sportives for 2011, as well as our recommended overseas rides and last year’s Dragon Ride report.