The inaugural Route 99 Time Trial on Saturday afternoon was held in ever deteriorating conditions as wind force picked up in the late afternoon affecting all the KOG competitors in particular. Cycling specialists who did not run the Grassland 50 in the morning were always going to have the advantage, of course, and Liu Danhong’s time of 50’54” was undoubtedly unbeatable. Only Huang Tianyi was kind of able to keep pace – and even so: the verdict read 50 seconds, which is a lot for a 30km TT. Third place on the podium was over 3 minutes down on Liu Danhong, indicating what a superb record he set. Chen Zhenwei was that third rider, and he was 1 minute ahead of fourth place himself. Of the KOG contestants, Cheng Lin was 11 seconds quicker than Grassland 50 winner Zhang Junjie, who remains in the overall KOG lead (road bike category).
Zhang Siyuan was the only woman who completed the 30km TT in less than 1 hour. She won in a time of 59’20”. That was more than four minutes faster than Zhao Chunyu and Cui Qian, the latter being first of the KOG competitors. Grassland 50 winner Xu Meiling was six minutes adrift of Cui Qian, but stays in the overall lead. Even after she picked up a penalty of 10 minutes for wrongly placing her bike plate (follow the race regulations, everybody!).
In the KOG MTB category, Wang Lidong confirmed his great form once again: he was first of the KOG guys and 8th overall in the MTB category. That was won by AoTeGenBaYaEr, a local rider, in a splendid time of 55’45”. That’s awesome on a MTB! He Wei was only 13 seconds slower in second place. The experienced Li Si was quickest woman on the MTB in 1h07’38” – already in tougher conditions. She was 13 minutes faster than second place, SuRiGaoGa.
