Cyclist Feng Chun-kai (馮俊凱) has secured a place in the men’s road race at next year’s Tokyo Olympics, the first time in more than 20 years that a Taiwanese has qualified for the event.
Feng earned the right to compete after he finished third in the Asian Road Cycling Championships in Uzbekistan in April, which was a qualifying event, his agent said in a press release.
Taiwan are allowed one competitor in the Olympic event, according to quotas announced on Nov. 15 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), cycling’s world governing body.
Photo: CNA / Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team
Feng, 31, was quoted in a news release as saying that he was happy to have the chance to compete in the Olympics again, and he promised to do his best.
Feng, a member of the Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team, competed in the men’s points race at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, finishing last among the field of 23.
The first Taiwanese cyclist to race at World Tour level, he also won at the Taiwanese National Road Championships from 2013 to 2015.
The previous time a Taiwanese competed in the men’s road event at an Olympics was in 1996, when Chen Chih-hao (陳智豪) qualified.
The men’s road race in Tokyo is to cover 234km, with an elevation gain of 4,865m.
The riders are to tackle the lower slopes of Mount Fuji on a route with five ascents, finishing at the Fuji Speedway.
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