Lu Xianjing and the rise of Chinese cycling

When Xi Jinping visited France recently, President Emmanuel Macron gifted him a yellow jersey on top of Tourmalet, an iconic pass along the Tour de France.

‌It was symbolic both as a gesture of friendship, but also as a recognition of China's huge potential in cycling.

Seen as a possible new frontier for the sport, post-Tour 'criteriums' have been held in Shanghai, and WorldTour races like the Tours of Guangxi and Chonming Island are now on the calendar.

But the Olympics garners attention like no other sporting event on earth. Cycling has been a fixture at every Olympics since the birth of the modern Games in 1896.‌

The road race was one of the events at the very first edition, and is set to be one of the highlights of Paris 2024 too.

While China has won eight cycling medals in its Olympic history, it had never seen a single rider qualify in the road race discipline, until now, with one pioneering cyclist aiming to inspire a nation.

Lu Xianjing has made history by just being in Paris. He's the first Chinese cyclist ever to qualify for the Olympic Games' road race.

He will come up against some of the biggest names on two wheels like Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, Belgians Wout Van Aert and Remco Evenepoel, Danish star Jonas Vingegaard and Tom Pidcock who races in British colors.‌

First to qualify 

Lu, 26, comes from Yunnan in China, races for the UCI China Glory–Mentech Continental Cycling Team, and will have the honor of being the first to wear Chinese colors at an Olympic road race.

"I'm feeling both nervous and excited," he told CGTN during preparations in France. "Even participating in the Paris Olympics is a breakthrough for Chinese cycling, so the pressure is definitely on, but I have a lot of confidence."

Far from being out of place among the world's elite, in 2023 Lu became the first ever Chinese rider to win a UCI Europe Tour race when he claimed stage four of Türkiye's Tour of Sakarya, and this year produced the winning run at the Grand Prix Syedra Ancient City in March.

Lu will compete on the road and mountain bike in Paris - the first rider from China ever to do that too.

'He's a fighter'

‌The China Glory-Mentech Continental Team was set up in 2021 with backing from the Chinese Federation. Its aim was to see a Chinese rider qualify for the Paris Olympics - a goal comfortably achieved only three years later.

‌Sporting Director Lionel Marie says Lu is ready to mix it with the best in Paris. "Lu has been in the team for the last three years," says Marie, "so we know him very well. He's one of the best riders in China."

‌Marie added: "When he has a big goal he's focused and he's training very well, usually he can reach the goal. For example, he won the Asia Championship on the mountain bike. But I believe he can do well on the road as he showed us, with victories in Türkiye and also, in China. So he's a guy who needs a big goal and he's a fighter."

Marie says a top-20 finish in Paris would be a huge achievement for Lu and could inspire a new generation.

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When CGTN met Lu, he was training with another up-and-coming cyclist Ma Binyan, the current Chinese national champion. An explosive sprinter Ma has gone wheel-to-wheel with WorldTour opposition, finishing eighth in stage two of the Tour of Guangxi last year behind winner Jonathan Milan.

The 25-year-old joined China Glory-Mentech at the beginning of this season and claimed a win on his first race-day with the squad, winning the sprint at the Grand Prix Antalya Airport City.

Just a few days later his second victory came at the Grand Prix Apollon Temple.

"Ma is a fast guy," said Marie. "He's a national champion, he has a great sprint and we help him to develop that. He's a tough guy too you know, he crashed hard on the first stage in the tour of Türkiye and he kept going, continued, and finished the race. That's not that easy at that level, because when you crash, you don't sleep well, you don't recover well and you finish. But he never complains, always happy. And those guys are very nice."‌

When and where is the men's Olympic road race?

The Olympic road races will start and finish at the Pont d'lena bridge with its spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 August. After a punishing 273 kilometer cycle for the men and 158 for the women, the first to cross the finishing line takes gold.

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