China's Biggest Mountain Biking Race
Tuesday, 13th May 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Chinese rider Li Fuyu (李富玉) came in first place in the 50-kilometer race at the Huangshan MTB Festival, China's biggest mountain biking event, over the weekend. The female winer was Zheng Lufang. Since Li is a professional, he ceded his 12,000 yuan prize to Piers Touzel from Australia, who came in 46 seconds behind him.The race, sponsored by TREK Cycling, included about 460 riders and a few hundred spectators, according to Sara Andersson, who works with Nordic Ways, the Beijing-based company that organized the event. In addition to TREK, Nordic Ways sponsors include Adidas, Volvo and Pearl Izumi.
If your China life keeps you cooped up inside an office in Beijing or Shanghai, and most of the bikes you see are cheap and beat-up old messengers, then you might be surprised to hear that China has a growing mountain biking scene. The Huangshan MTB festival is in its third year. The inaugural race in 2006 attracted about 300 riders. Among this year's entrants, 160 were foreigners and the rest were Chinese.
"I think that with the Olympics coming, people are more interested in sports, and also there's more international influence in China right now," Andersson said. "People are more interested in fitness and healthy lifestyles."
Nordic Ways also puts on road biking races and ski competitions. Download their calendar here.
Tags: Li Fuyu, mountain biking, nordic ways, TREK