Cycling supremo pans Chinese officials

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 07/24/2007 page18)