A former senior international cycling official has launched a
broadside at Chinese administrators, accusing them of retarding the
sport's progress by failing to adopt advanced selection processes
and foreign training methods.
Past International Cycling Union (UCI) administrator Lucien
Bailly, who was once charged with developing the sport globally,
has implored officials and athletes alike to embrace the training
and recruitment regimes of professional offshore teams after the
best-placed Chinese rider at last week's Tour of Qinghai Lake
finished almost half an hour behind overall winner Maarten
Tjallingii.
"CCA (China Cycling Association) is responsible for the main
lack of an ongoing system," the distinguished Canadian claimed,
holding no punches while engaged as a technical advisor at the
sixth annual Qinghai event.
"I often told them that of all the riders they had selected,
they should have left half of them to go fishing or do something
else. They are not the people for cycling."
Bailly cites Chinese Olympic medal hope Guo Shuang, an Asian and
world champion women's sprinter, as a beacon of success nurtured
abroad.
"She was detected in a special program of talent investigation
especially focused on the women's sprint riders.
"This is how we knew her talents and sent her for specific
training in the World Cycling Center in Switzerland," Bailly, who
helped found the Swiss facility, said.
"After years of development, she has five junior titles in
different sprinting events.
"She is a potential medalist for the 2008 Beijing Olympics after
she won the sprint world women's championship last year."
Bailly implored officials and athletes alike to have the
confidence to look abroad to learn from, and in turn take on, the
world's best riders.
"I strongly recommend that they should open to the idea of
integrating their riders in professional structures," the former
Sydney Olympics track coordinator told the China Daily.
Chinese riders were first included in offshore teams two years
ago.
In last week's Tour for example, four competed for two separate
professional outfits.
Jin Long, Ji Cheng and Fang Xu pedaled for the Netherlands-based
Skil-Shimano (SKS) team, while national champion Li Fuyu was an
integral member of the race's sole ProTour team, Discovery
Channel.
"Whether in discovery or Shimano, it is good and helpful,"
Bailly advised.
But the 64-year-old cycling expert said current migration levels
were far from adequate.
"Firstly, we need a good talent investigation system," he
averred.
"This is also what we have recommended and implemented."
A chief official from CCA agreed that greater numbers of Chinese
competitors need to be sent abroad.
"The result of cycling competition depends on many things such
as road conditions, the weather, the tactics of rivals and
therefore experience is more important than strength and will," CCA
secretary-general Jiang Guofeng said. "A lack of professional
cycling teams has choked the development of the sport in China and
we are definitely making efforts to have more riders in overseas
pro teams before China has its own."
Discerning eye
Bailly, a past advisor to the French national team, has visited
China many times in the past 17 years and witnessed the glacial
advance of domestic cycling.
"I was a national technical director for cycling and then I had
a technical position in UCI for nine years until 2005," he
said.
"Gradually, I had the chances, co-operation and
years-of-opportunity to give advice and to try to help the
development of the sport."
As well as working as a technical advisor, his present task in
China is to help create new events and races like the successful
Qinghai Tour.
Bailly said specific training regimes were paramount for cycling
success and integral to an athlete's improvement.
"In some sports, you can be successful training and get straight
to the high-level competition," said the Qubec Cycling Sports
Federation hall of fame member.
"But never in cycling." Bailly says he eagerly awaits the
formation of a professional Chinese team.
"It is only a matter of time ," he predicted.
"Just working the right way step by step, I will continue to do
my job here in China and hope to see China produce its own pro
teams soon."
Around 50 top-level professional races are held around the world
each year. But sadly for a country dubbed the "Kingdom of
Bicycles", China has yet to form its own professional outfit: at
any level.
"We have to admit that the level of Chinese riders has to be
improved," CCA boss Jiang confessed.
"We know that practice makes perfect, yet Chinese riders have
hardly any opportunity.
"We have to send athletes to overseas pro-teams to make them
improve."
(China Daily July 24, 2007)