The gold medal of road cycling may be still a dream for Asian riders, but the Iranians believe they can do something on the uphill in Beijing.
The Iranian riders showed their incredible strength on the mountain stages and seized top three of the King of Mountain ranking of Tour de Qinghai Lake, which finished Sunday in northwest China's Qinghai Province.
"Our (national) team is the best in Asia so I think we can take good results in Beijing because the Olympic route in Beijing also has mountain," said the tour's Best Asian Rider Hossein Askari.
The newly founded Tabriz Petrochemical Team, led by Askari and his national teammate Ghader Iranagh Mizbani, took the team classification champion and Best Asian Team in this Asia-top international road cycling race.
The 33-year-old Askari was ranked second behind his teammate Ahad Sarai Kazemi in the KOM ranking with only one point off. Mizbani got the third place.
Askari also retained the yellow jersey for consecutive three days before being edged by Athens individual time trial champion Tyler Hamilton.
"This is very, very good for us to prepare for the Beijing Olympics with its high altitude and hard climbing stages," said Tabriz staff Daroush Mohammadzaeh, mentioning the route in Beijing also coverers several mountains.
Askari and Mizbani returned to Iran after finishing the tour and continue training with another Olympic rider, Mehdei Sohrabi. They will come back to Beijing with the Iranian delegation.
"It's very hard to win a medal in the road cycling in Beijing. You know, all the heroes will gather there," said Tabriz manager Alireza Sadri. "But definitely we can get better results."
"The route in the Beijing Olympics is a very nice route," said Askari, who participated in the "Good Luck Beijing" testing last August. "I think we can ride good position."
The men's road cycling race is set to be held on August 9 in Beijing. The route starts from Yongding Gate to Juyong Pass, covering a distance of 248.5 kilometers.
(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2008)