CK BB riders started cyclocross season in China
After last year`s UCI calendar premiere of Chinese cyclocross, the event continued this year as well and Slovak racers didn`t miss the opportunity.
Innaugural edition was held in 2013 and was included in UCI calendar as a C2 category race. After the successfull premiere, Chinese organizers aimed higher and applied for the Qiansen cyclocross trophy to be included as a C1 category race in 2014. Racers from 22 countries from Europe, Asia, America and Australia were present at the start, including Slovakia, represented by Milan Barényi (Trek KCK Oslany) and CK Banská Bystrica`s quartet ( Hanesová, Fraňo, Debnár and Bátora).
Moreover, Slovak riders were also invited to participate in a Tour de Volcano-esque public event, 11th edition of a road grand fondo, the Tour de Shijazhuang.
Immediately after the arrival to Beijing, the perfectly managed team of organizers grabbed our attention. Every member of the team knew exactly what his job was, the whole event was scheduled in four days, with schedule fulfilled absolutely precisely. Chinese organizers decided to fill the days before and after the race with social and cultural activities. All of the invited star riders, including Thijs Al, Ryan Trebon, Elen Van Loy, Steve Chainel or UCI commisaires, werefor example present on a sightseeing trip to the Great Chinese Wall on Friday morning. “I really appreciate this kind of attitude. The race organizers took the opportunity to show some of their heritage to the riders, the whole race left an impression of a big family, we got to know each other pretty well. It was in contrast with the sometimes exaggerated European professionalism, leading to a situation when people almost don`t even speak to each other during races. On the other hand, the Chinese race with it`s friendly ambiance, enforced with the opening ceremony, was truly refreshing” concluded Martin Fraňo, the manager of CK Banská Bystrica and of Slovak CX National team.
The race itself, Qiansen cyclocross trophy, was held on Saturday and was broadcasted live both on the national channel and the internet. Mostly dry surface of the lap was pretty bumpy and at the same time very fast. First off were women, with our very own Livia Hanesova. Livia was positioned as number six on the starting grid (according to the current UCI ranking) which gave her solid prospect of winning this year`s first UCI points. She entered the lap in fifth position, then started to fade a bit and lost few spots. Unfortunatelly, she had a flat right after the second pits in round one, so while she made it to the second pits, riders out front were already entering the next lap. Naturally, she wasn`t ranked, since she didn`t finish half of the race with full amount of laps. The dissappointment was great since she had a pretty solid chance to finish in top ten and net first UCI points of the season. The race was domitated by Elen Van Loy of the Netherlands, followed by the australian surprise of the race, Lisa Jacobs (since the CX season is in full swing on the southern hemisphere, the current australian champion came into the race in peak form and gave the favourites hard run for their money), Danish Margret Kloppenbug in third and pre race favorite Lucie Chainel-Lefevre from France in fourth.
Men`s race proceded right after. Lined in the first row were number one Ryan Trebon of the USA, Thijs Al of the Netherlands and also Steve Chainel from France. Milan Barényi had race number 7, Lukáš Bátora spotted number 12, thus they were lined in second row. Miro Debnár and Martin Fraňo with 36 and 42 respectively on their jerseys start they`ll have a hard time getting to the front of the 62 men strong field on the narrow paths of local park. The race unfolded exactly as expected – the trio of favourites – Al, Trebon and Chainel - gunned to the front. The Ag2r world tour rider Steve Chainel performed just the way we`ve become used to after his performances in the World Cup series and took a flier right after the start. Unfortunately, a broken deraileur forced him to bike change, which left chasing duo Al and Trebon alone at the front. Soon a chasing group of five formed behind the two, with Milan Barenyi waiting patiently to make his move. After Chainel had a mechanical again, Milan tested his competiton and attacked soon after, moving to provisional third. However, super fast Steve Chainel managed impossible, and was literally flying on the fast course, passing rider after rider and only finish line stopped him from chasing down the leaders. Had he got just one more lap, he would have reached the leading duo, he surely had the shape to do so. Nevertheless, he ousted Milan to an unpopular fourth place. In the duel for victory, Thijs Al used his experience and won with a perfectly timed last lap attack, Ryan Trebon finished second. Lukáš Bátora also performed well. He had been riding in seventh place for most of the race, until Chainel and Hekele sped past him. In the end, Lukáš managed to finish ninth, securing first UCI points of the season. Miro Debnár and Martin Fraňo were lapped and classified in 38th and 41st place.
Miro Debnár: ”The first time I rode a cyclocross bike this season was yesterday, the Chinese invitation came pretty late, nevertheless, I was happy that I could experience the ambiance. I didn`t start well, moreover, the field got stuck on first stairs, so despite I was passing rider after rider during the first few laps, the head of the race was long and far gone. In the end, I started to feel that after road season I`m not quite yet used to the intensity of cyclocross racing, so in the last lap I was called off when I was losing 80% of the fastest lap time. This means I was ranked 38, with loss of a lap. My goal was to finish on points, which means 30th or better, but I didn`t achieve that.” (According to a UCI rule, every rider losing 80% of the fastest lap time, in this race 6 minutes, is called off shortly before finishing the lap, so that he won`t influent the race situation if the front of the race overlaps him. If this happens after first half of the race, he is ranked with the gap expressed in number of laps remaining.
Martin Fraňo: “Two week ago I broke a tiny bone between wrist and palm in a very unfortunate accident, the hand was put in a gypsum and plane tickets had already been booked, which was making me cry. I hadn`t trained much, since I only had the gypsum removed a day before the take off to China, which actually surprised me, since I wasn`t hoping the bone would heal so fast. Immediately when I saw the perfect organization and dedication of the organizers, I was determined to finish the race in spite of pain – I had a rough first training ride without a bandage. I started quite well, I managed to sprint into top 30, which was my initial goal for the race, but as the race progressed, I was losing positions. Moreover, I really fought hard to even hold the bars in the bumpy sections of the lap, but I didn`t want to quit. 41st place is nothing extra, but I was happy to had at least finished the race, since I think it was my duty towards the organizers, who did massive amount of work”.
Milan Barényi: “I liked the course, but I wasn`t hoping for such a result. Before the race, I thought maybe top 10 would be great, but I had pretty solid legs, so I attacked. In the end, I lost the close battle for third, but Steve Chainel was just better today. If he hadn`t had those mechanicals, he would have won, so I am over the top with my fourth place. The organization was superb, backround of the race perfect, so I hope to return to a Chinese cyclocross in the future”.
Lukáš Bátora: “I had a fantastic start, which was awesome, since the start is crucial in cyclocross. I went to terrain in sixth place and stayed tucked in a group for the rest of the race and even though I was suffering at times, I really enjoyed the race. I went full gas in the end, but Czech Hekele pipped in the finish. Nevertheless, I am satisfied with top ten finish and I look forward to first round of Slovak cup on my home turf in Bánovce nad Bebravou”.
After the cyclocross race, the invited riders moved 300 km to the hotel in Shijiazhuang, where they were supposed to take part in a local gran fondo race, Tour de Shijiazhuang, as VIP guests. The organizers once again didn`t miss the opportunity and used the day before to show the riders nearby buddhist temple, one of the ten oldest in China. Of course, a welcome ceremony was held the same evening, since the Chinese seem to be really fond of such events. The start of the race was quite unusual as well – it was already at 8 a.m. The parcourse took four lane highway for the first 60 kilometers (it seems there are no other roads in China, the highway network is dense and new roads cross the country), finishing with four kilometer climb. The foreign riders were supposed to race “ceremonially”, only to add some credit and glamour to the race, to draw the attention of both the public and the press. Their participation really reached this goal – almost everyone wanted to take a picture with them or at least have a little chat. We felt just like Contador must feel on the start of a charity gran fondo in Spain, which is quite understandable, as events like this are pretty rare here, making both riders and public extremely thankful. The invited riders pushed the pace in the opening flat kilometers, disintegrating the field into groups. However, they hung their legs having reached the climb and let the locals fight for the victory, since the points in a gran fondo series were at stake.
Women`s field started later and followed the same race plot – the foreigners setting the pace early on, then letting the Chinese race for the win. Despite this, a mini sprint for third was contested between Australia and Slovakia, ultimately won by Lívia Hanesová.
“After Saturday`s bad luck, when I didn`t race much, I was feeling down. So today, I set the pace for most of the race and in the end we let the locals race for the win, which got them really psyched. Nevertheless, I just couldn`t keep myself from sprinting for third with Lisa. I felt pretty good today, which makes me regret the Saturday, but at the same time leaves me optimistic for the next cyclocross race in Baden, Switzerland. I hope to be more successful there” summed up Livia after the race.
Going to China, we had no idea what to expect, but the reality surpassed our expectations. It needs to be claimed that China isn`t a country of slums and poverty anymore. Local governments swiftly erase slums, replacing them with skyscrapers. The roads are at the level of which we in Europe and particularly in Slovakia, can only dream of. Country`s growth is immense, Beijing and Shijiazhuang are both ultramodern cities. During our stay, we didn`t see a car older than 5-7 years or gasoline driven scooter – those tens of thousands roaming around had electric engines. So only rickshas fulfil the stereotypical image of Chinese transport, but they`re powered by super modern electric engines as well. Despite this massive electrification in transport, the smog is still a big issue, creating the ever present thick curtain. However, if we were to compare Shijiazhuang or Beijing to another modern metropolis, the closest would be Dubai. China is full of skyscrapers, modern glass buildings and shopping centers, traditional architecture is slowly marginalized. On the other hand, this trend is common in most of the developing countries. Television broadcasting (17 state and few tens of state channels) is dominated by soap operas and Superstar-like singer contests - one or another is on every hour. We managed to watch a traditional opera only once, but it was a real treat (captured in FB video). If to spot a traditional architecture or TV program is rare, to find a traditional marketplace in modern Chinese city is impossible. We were also surprised by the costs of goods and food, since they`re comparable to European prices, which is also an effect of super fast economic growth and increased life standards. To end this article on a positive note, we were pleasantly surprised to see a regular, wide bike lane, separated by a safety island, running by every road in the city (usually 2 lane roads in every direction). Well, a dream in most western countries is a reality in China.
