With all the Chinese riders failing to make an impact at the
Tour of Qinghai Lake, which concluded Sunday, an
International Cycling Union (UCI) expert has suggested Chinese
riders and teams can establish China in international races only be
reinforcing professionalism.
"China needs to professionalize its cycling teams and cyclists
in order to be competitive in international cycling races," said
Lucien Bailly, the technical advisor of the Tour de Qinghai Lake
and a senior officer of UCI.
China boasts its riders' entry record this year as a total of 21
Chinese riders out of a total 140 cyclists joined the race, but
none of them were able to collect a stage win or a top-10 finish in
the overall standings.
Ma Haijun from China Merida Team holds the country's best record
by finishing third in the fifth stage and 30th overall.
"We have to admit that the level of Chinese riders is to be
improved. As we know that practise makes perfect, yet Chinese
riders have hardly any opportunity to do that," said Jiang Guofeng,
secretary-general of the Chinese Cycling Association (CCA). "We
have to send athletes to overseas pro-teams to make them improve in
a decent way."
Chinese riders' attempts for the new development have already
started one year ago. Four of them joined two Netherlands'
pro-teams for the first time earlier this year. Jin Long and Fang
Xu are with Skil-Shimano (SKS), and national champion Li Fuyu and
Yu Tong are competing for Marco Polo (MRP) at the race in
Qinghai.
In addition, Chinese teams are combining with bicycle factories
to boost the professionalism by inviting senior experts and
trainers from UCI top teams.
"CCA aims to make breakthrough in cycling by adopting
professionalism, and it has already been proved to be the best
approach," said Wang Xuanqing, CCA vice president.
Since last year, CCA has sent out more than 20 riders to join
overseas pro-teams in Europe to bestow them chances of racing in
more than 30 events a year, which gets them much more experience
and improve their skills faster than in China.
Li, the national champion and a 48th finisher at the race in
Qinghai, said establishing professional circumstances is the only
way for Chinese riders to improve.
"You have to compete in professional circuit around the world,
otherwise, there is no chance to move up for us," said 28-year-old
Li. "To feel the cycling environment in Europe is very important
for me. I am expecting to bring it back home and make it benefit
all my Chinese counterparts."
As major races show, the elite riders all come from professional
teams. Cycling teams are classified into four categories - UCI
pro-team, UCI continental pro-team, continental team and national
team. Only UCI pro-teams are able to go into the top three tours of
cycling (Tour de France, Tour de Italy and Tour de Spain).
A professional cycling team requires a sponsorship for a
50-member contingent consisting a team manager, 1-2 assistant
managers, 2-3 massagists, 2-3 machinists and about 30 riders.
Professional cyclists go to races every week, so they can take
part in around 50 races a year just like professional football
players do, as Bailly explained. The top riders in Europe can earn
500,000 euros yearly and the professional riders are permitted to
transfer between teams.
But China, a country dubbed as the Kingdom of Bicycles, has yet
to establish its own pro-team at any level.
The Tour of Qinghai Lake, which has entered its fifth year, is
in urgent need of competitive native participants and the
involvement of top overseas teams to sustain its momentum and
enhance its sway domestically and internationally.
Riders in road cycling races need not only strength and strong
will, but experience and tactics to overcome various road
conditions, weather, surroundings and stratagem from rivals,
according to Jiang.
The participation of top native riders is necessary for a race
to thrive. Japan had hosted the Tour of Japan years before, but the
race failed to thrive due to the lack of native superiors.
"It won't be long for China to establish continental teams
involved in international races, it's what we have to do," said
Wang.
(China Daily July 29, 2006)