The Next Cycling Superpower?
+ Junior racing in Iran, development in Algeria and loads more news from the world of cycling.
Welcome to Global Peloton!
What a weird Giro so far. I’m looking forward to some fireworks this week.
Great to see more impressive riding from the African boys. Gibbons was vital for Ackermann in his win and Gebreigzabhier and Mulubrhan have continued to be aggressive. It was sad to see De Bod and Tesfatsion leave the race though.
A bit of a warning, we are going a bit deep this week. Two big and controversial nations are getting more involved in the sport. I’d love to know what you think.
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Dan
A small race with big potential consequences
The Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta Burgos have hit the headlines over the last week as some of the biggest names in the sport battle for glory. However a small UCI 2.2 race in Turkey may contain a significant result for the future of cycling.
At the Tour of Sakarya, Xianjing Lyu achieved a first UCI win for China Glory Pro CT by a Chinese rider. I think it’s also the first ever UCI win by a Chinese rider on the UCI Europe Tour - please let me know if I’m wrong!
China have had professionals before. Cheng Ji was the first Chinese rider to compete in the Tour de France in 2014 before retiring two years later. Other World Tour professionals include Xu Gang and Meiyin Wang. But this result signals the first sign of real competitiveness on the road in Europe.
But who cares? Why is this important?
Well, cycling has a history of following the money and China may well be about to invest some.
China Glory is a project with big ambitions. They had intended to become a Pro Team for this year before a change of mind - much to the disappointment of former rider Sean Bennett.
This success for Lyu may inspire the Chinese government to reverse that decision this year. It’s another step along the journey for Chinese cycling.
The question then is: what happens next? International racing has already returned to China this year, with bigger races like the Tours of Qinghai Lake, Hainan and the World Tour events, the Tours of Guangxi and Chonming Island, returning later in 2023.
One possibility is that China re-hashes what has already happened in the Middle East. They may stage some big-money races and sponsor teams, all seemingly with the aim of improving the country’s image and generating tourism. The Middle Eastern nations are doing some development work to grow the sport, but without much impact so far.
I think that China could have a much greater impact on the sport than the Middle East does. They are investing and now that they have tasted some success, I think they will invest more and it will snowball. 15 years from now, China could be a major force in road cycling, just as we have seen already, to an extent, on the track.
We may look back on the 2023 Tour of Sakarya as the kindling for that fire. It could change the sport forever.
I’d be interested to know what you think:
Tour of Marand - Aras
If smaller cycling nations are to develop, they must invest in their juniors (and younger). Last week, we saw the first glimpses of that in Iran as the nation held its first ever UCI Junior race.
It wasn’t the biggest news story coming out of Iran last week. The race was run in the midst of the executions of three anti-government protesters and huge political instability across the country.
Junior riders from Iran, Iraq, Uzbekistan and Indonesia took part in the race. However the event was dominated by the only Russian rider taking part.
18-year-old Nikita Tsvetkov, who was riding for the Uzbek team, won three stages and the overall. [Side note: Tsvetkov rode the senior 1.2 Alanya Cup race in Turkey earlier in the season, placing 12th. As a rider born in 2005, I’m not sure he should have been eligible to race there, but maybe I’m wrong]
The fourth and final stage was won by Indonesia’s Muhammad Aflah. Diyor Takhirov of Uzbekistan and Muhammad Nurahmat of Indonesia completed the GC podium.
It’s hard to know how to feel about this race - much like the China story as well. Young riders who are passionate about cycling are being developed, but in the context of instability and oppression.
And just like China, what happens if Iran decide to pump more money in to cycling? That’s certainly their trajectory, but perhaps not on the same scale.
Algerian development
A team of Algerian juniors took part in the Trophée Morbihan Juniors, competing against some of the best juniors in the world.
Riad Bakhti had the team’s best stage result on day one, finishing 22nd. Only one of the riders finished the race: Bachir Chennafi in 65th overall.
A senior Algerian squad raced also in the GP Rouchouze. 22-year-old Mohamed Nehari finished 2nd, Abdelkrim Ferkous was 6th and Nadjib Assal 9th.
At the same time, the CN Tipaza stage race was taking place in Algeria, with stage wins for Slimane Badlis, Azzedine Lagab and Riyad Gouri.
I’ve said it before, Algeria has the best development system in Africa.
Other News
There was more international racing in China as the Giro - Ride like a Pro Yangtze River Delta race took place. Mongolian Tegshbayar Batsaikhan was the winner.
Sergio Chumil won Vigo-Copa de España, one of the top amateur races in Spain. It’s the Guatemalan’s first win in Europe. Uruguay’s Thomas Silva finished 8th and secured the overall Copa de España win. Mexican Edgar Cadena was 11th.
In Mali, Yaya Diallo won GP du Festival Sente ahead of Bayou Sanogo and Tiemoko Diamoutene
Chile’s Vicente Rojas Naranjo won the Clásica de Pascua-Padron in Spain. Another Chilean, Nicolas Vergara, was 2nd at the Ronde Van Heeswijk in the Netherlands.
Eritrean Aklilu Arefayne finished an impressive 14th overall at Triptyque Ardennais.
Romello Crawford won the Independence 3 Guyana
The Tour of Japan kicked off on Sunday with Luke Lamperti taking the prologue. [Expect a full report next week]
Costa Rican rider Jason Huertas won the GP Villa de Mojados
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