Ericsson Shanghai International Bicycle Festival was held this Monday at the Shanghai Circuit. This event was organized by Nordic Ways and co-sponsored by Trek Bicycles.

Riding on the Formula One circuit in Shanghai

Young local Shanghai Trek rider takes surprising victory

Qing Chenglu (Trek Team) made a bold attack with three laps remaining in the 10 lap race to jump clear; the indecision of the breakaway riders combined with some fine time trial riding skills worked in his favor to seize an opportunist win at the Shanghai Ericsson International Bicycle Festival

Cui Jin Hao (China Trek Racing) edged out while new Specialized recruit, Darren Benson for second place.

How it unfolded:

Over 80 riders lined up on the big Formula One 5.4km twisty circuit under sunny but windy conditions. From the gun, there was a flurry of attacks – with Chen Xiao Yang (Colossi) instigating the first wave that succeeded in stringing out the field. It was not till Carruthers (CS Racing) made a counter-attack and with the help of Hong Kong rider Liang Junrong was able to establish a breakaway that was just dangling in front of a hard chasing, but strung out, field.

Specialized rider Gary Loafmann leading the break with Darren Benson in second wheel

After the first lap, the break contained five escapees: Liang Junrong (Hong Kong), Darren Benson (Specialized), eventual winner Qing Chenglu (Trek), Daniel Carruthers (Champion System), and Gary Loafman (Specialized).  The sustained accelerations at the front of the race during the first lap had fractured the peloton into several main groups, leaving a group of 12 riders to make the bridge to the five-man breakaway. Only five riders made it across including well known Chinese riders, Cui Jinhao (China Trek Racing) and Cui Hao (Holy Brother). Half-way through the second lap, a 10-man breakaway formed with most of the initial driving done by Liang Junrong (Hong Kong) and Daniel Carruthers (CS Racing). Once it became apparent, however, that the breakaway was drawing away from the chasing pack: most of the riders started contributing to the work-load to further drive home the advantage.  The lead-group became a well-oiled unit, despite a couple of the riders disrupting the flow at times.

Qing Chenglu (Trek) took the final win

Liang Junrong (Hong Kong) was looking solid throughout the race till a lapse in concentration while rounding a technical corner had him sliding across the race-track (he was able to get back into the race, finishing 9th),  The relentless pace of the breakaway had wheeded out some of the weaker riders and with three laps to go, the number was reduced to seven riders. Going down the long head-wind straightaway, Qing Chenglu (Trek) made an explosive attack to jump out to a 50m lead and with no one following he continued to increase his margin. Initially, Qing was given free-reign for almost an entire lap with no-one from the breakaway attempting to bridge across; but once it was apparent that he might stay away, Darren Benson (Specialized) made a desperate lunge to successfully bridge across to Qing on the straightaway with Cui Jinhao (China Trek Racing) following shortly afterwards. It was a three-man shoot-out for the 6,000rmb in prize money up for grabs and it was Qing that prevailed over the more favored experienced opponents to claim his biggest win to-date.

Cui Hao (Holy Brother) finished fourth. Daniel Carruthers (Champion System) took the final podium spot in sixth place.

This article submitted by Daniel Carruthers. Who is Mr. Daniel Carruthers (we call him 'Mr.' now that we have seen him ride . . . .)? Daniel is a New Zealander who is based in Hangzhou, China and races for Team Champion System. Daniel is a freelance writer and photographer who is currently studying his PhD at Zhejiang University. Find out more about Daniel at www.danielcarruthers.com

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