IN BRIEF (Page 22)

Cycling

Extreme bikers to kick off a dream trip next March

One hundred French extreme cyclists, joined by two Chinese riders, will embark on the Paris to Beijing Cycling Dream Tour, a 12,000-km trip that will begin in Paris on March 13, 2008.

Riders will bike 80 to 160 km every day for 140 days in this extreme outdoor cycling expedition.

Participants will pass through 12 countries and are scheduled to arrive in Beijing on August 3, five days before the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

The event is supported by the French government and is sponsored by the French Sports Ministry and the French Olympic Committee. It was organized by the French Cycling Tourism Federation, the Europe-China Friendly Association and the Beijing Xout Culture Dissemination Co Ltd.

Haima Tour of Hainan set for November

The Haima Tour of Hainan Island international road cycling will be held from November 3 to 10.

The event has been upgraded from last year's continental 2.2 class to this year's 2.1 class.

The seven-stage competition will last eight days, up from last year's six-day six-stage format, and now includes individual time trials.

The total distance also has increased from last year's 860 km to 1,100 km, starting in the city of Sanya and passing through15 counties and towns.

One hundred and eight cyclists representing 18 teams from 13 countries and regions have registered to take part.

The International Cycling Union, the China General Administration of Sports, the Hainan Provincial Government and the Chinese Cycling Association are all sponsors of the tour.

The organizers said they hope to make the cycling event Asia's Tour de France and Hainan's third name-card events after the Bo'ao Forum and the Miss World Pageant.

Softball

China humiliated by Aussies 16-1

One day after losing its opening game to Canada, China's softball team was dealt another blow yesterday as it lost to world No 3 Australia 16-1 in four innings at the "Bank of China" International Tournament in Beijing's Fengtai Softball Field.

The host has never come close to Australia, Athens Olympics silver medal winner and bronze medalist in last year's World Championships. After trailing 2-0 in the first two innings, Chinese met a nightmare third inning when the Aussies delivered a grand slam.

The host had to change its ailing pitchers twice but could not stop the big-hitting Aussies to go 16-0. Wu Di ran back home to score the only run for China.

In earlier matches yesterday, Chinese Taipei lost to Canada and China 5-0 and 11-0, respectively.

The tournament plays a double round-robin format, in which every team plays each other twice in the preliminaries.

(China Daily 10/11/2007 page22)