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168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Giro d'Italia boss Michele Acquarone, a proponent of the globalization of cycling, is excited about welcoming the first ever Chinese rider to participate in the Italian Grand Tour. Eight months after completing the Vuelta a Espana, Ji Cheng will line up under the colours of 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Argos-Shimano next week in Naples.

"I'm looking forward to it even though I don't know much about Italy, except that I've heard about the climbs being harder than in Spain," Ji told Cyclingnews in Marmaris during the Tour of Turkey.

Ji is not a total stranger to Italy, He has taken part in the past two editions of Milan-Sa🐬n Remo, but admitted that he doesn't know the existence of organizing newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport which gives its pink color to the leader's jersey.

Ji hails from Harbin, a "small" city of 3.3 million people 🌄in the province of Hei Long Jiang in the far north east of China near the Russian border. "Our normal climate in the winter is -36°C," he said. "The record is -55°C, but I've not experienced it personally."

A son of a housewife and an interior designer, he🐈 comes from a family that contravened the one-child policy. He has a sister and remembers that his parents were fined 3000 yuans (around 370 euros) for the birth of a second child.

"At school, I was a runner, and I always won, so I got a chance to enter a sports school," said the 25-year-old. "In 2002, because it was still cold for running in April, I moved to cycling and started on a home🌟 trainer. Only one month later, I took part in my first competition on the road: 12 laps around Laoshan, the venue of the Beijing Olympics for track, BMX and mountain bike. It was been the hardest race in my life. I didn't even have cycling shoes." He was then assigned to track cycling for the 2005 China Games in Nanjing.

"In 2006, I heard that Shimano wanted Chinese riders for their team in Europe," he said. "They interviewed me and asked if I could cook by myself and 💧speak English. I answered that cooking is my passion, and I can learn English, so I joined Skil-Shimano in 2007, and I've lived in Hengelo since. You can ask my teammates: I'm the best chef on the team! My speciality is to cook Coca-Cola chicken w🧸ings."

On the bike, Ji has made a name for himself by pulling the bunch for hours. A worthy domestique, he has been identified as "the breakaway killer" since he brought the bunch across to escapees on many occasions during t💫he 2012 Vuelta at the service of John D🔴egenkolb, who won five stages and will be once again his captain for the Giro.

"With Argos-Shimano, we know how to control the flat stages," he said. 🌜"Even the riders from other teams like Lotto-Belisol come up to me sometimes and ask, "Hey Cheng, you're gonna pull?' It seems like everyone likes to follow me. Usually, in 10 kilometers, I close a 10-=second gap. I always ride at 75% of my possibilities, so on hard days, I can push more."

"I've learned cycling in Europe. When I first arrived, I was shocked to see people sprinting to corners instead of braking. Chinese riders h🦩ave a lot to learn here, technically and tactically."

Followed by a crew of CCTV who produced a documentary on his participation in the Vuelta last year, Ji feels like he is on a mission. "I might not be the most talented cyclist from the country, but I want to show everyone that a Chinese [rider] can also do the job, provi𓄧ding that he acts as a professional," he said. "I'm doing these Grand Tours to give inspiration to my compatriots. What I've achieved so far has had some impact back home among the cycling fans, but if I happen to ride the Tour de France next year or the year after, it would be massive for China."

The "breakaway killer" also has a dream of reversing roles. "Team work ꩲcomes first, but winning a race is always in the back of the mind of a racer," he said. Acquarone would love to see that on the roads of Italy next month.