Introducing Nazaerbieke Bieken

China’s best mountain biker makes his  intention clear: Nazaerbieke Bieken wants to focus on road racing from now on.  The Keyi-Look rider aims at catching the attention of professional cycling  teams, starting with stage 7 of the Tour of Hainan where he hopes to show his  skills as a climber.

One  year ago, following his international debut in road racing at the Tour of  Hainan, Nazaerbieke made the top15 overall at the Tour of Fuzhou as he managed  to challenge some renowned international climbers. The 23 year old is on his way  to a come-back. “I spent almost the whole 2017 season racing in mountain biking  until I started my road season with the Tour of China”, he explained at the  start of stage 5 in Danzhou. “Unfortunately I picked up an injury before the  national Games and I didn’t perform well there.”

In  mid-May, he became the Asian champion with the Chinese team in the mixed relay.  Nazaerbieke represented China on three occasions at the world championships for  mountain biking in 2014, 2015 and 2016. He’s aware of many world’s top cyclists  having switched successfully from MTB to road racing, like the 2011 Tour de  France champion Cadel Evans. “I prefer to ride a road bike than a mountain  bike”, he said. “My MTB career is behind me now. I think I have a good potential  for climbing. I want to become a pro rider in a big team.”

Nazaerbieke was born in Kazakhstan from  Chinese farmers but he moved to the Anhui province with his grand parents when  he was eight years old. Alexandr Vinokourov is naturally an idol for him. “I was  very excited when he won the Olympic Games in London in 2012”, he remembered.  But his model is Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert who won the Tour of Flanders and the  Amstel Gold Race this year. “I love to see him in action in steep climbs”, he  said. “That’s the kind of rider I want to be.”

Evaluating his condition ahead of the hilly  stages in the Tour of Hainan, he declared: “I had some problems in stage 1 but I  feel better now and I’m focused on stage 7 and stage 8. I want to make the top  10 on GC and win the blue jersey of best Asian  rider.”