Chang Nyeong, Korea – The first competition day started with Criterium, in which Japan Kanoya University Team and Japan National Team dominated the top 3 places. It undoubtedly displayed the high level of Japan university team in this discipline.
In Criterium event, 41 riders registered in the competition but one from Mongolia team quitted before the start. According to the competition rule, the riders who were overlapped would be disqualified. Finally, 10 were disqualified. The race course was 24km long, with 15 laps in all. It was cool, even a little bit cold on the morning of autumn season in Chang Nyeong. All the riders seriously warmed up and became ready for competition. After 15-lap fierce rivalry, Kuroeda Saya from Japan Kanoya University Team first passed the finish line, slightly faster than his teammate Tokuda Takumi by only 0.146 second ahead. As Technical Delegate Walter YUE commented, “9 riders from 2 Korea teams also did an excellent job, but Japan teams took the advantages by registering 17 riders”. He said cycling was not an individual event, which needed close cooperation among teammates. With this disadvantages of registering less riders, Korean teams lost the chance to chase their Japan components.
After the Criterium, a National Amateur Cycling Championship of Korea was organized, which attracted more than 1200 amateur Korean riders from the whole Korea. It was said that the amateur riders were excited and full of expectation to compete with university riders.
Tomorrow, the Individual Road Race will test the riders on their strength and endurance. The race course is 110km in length with the maximum elevation of 201m. As Technical Delegate said that it was a complicated course, with steep slopes. Expect the wonderful performance of all the riders!
For more information on 2nd Asian University Road Cycling Championship, please visit www.ausf.org.
(Source: AUSF Secretariat)