Zhang Bin, Secretary-General of the Chinese Cycling Association, attended the launch event.
According to the Chinese Cycling Association, the world's first Asian professional continental cycling team was officially launched in Beijing on January 11. It is the UCI Continental cycling team ZOIS (registered as a Chinese team), a new UCI professional continental cycling team introduced by leading custom apparel manufacturer ZOIS International for the 2012 season. Shi Mind, the founder of the team, stated that the ultimate goal of forming this team is to become the first team to compete in World Tour events and the first Asian team to participate in the Tour de France.
It is understood that the ZOIS team is the world's first Asian professional continental cycling team. The head coach is Shen Jinkang, the general coach of both the Chinese Cycling Association and the Hong Kong Cycling Association, who brings extensive coaching experience. The current 18 riders come from 10 countries and regions across four continents, with four of China’s top riders drawing particular attention: former national champion Xu Gang from Shanghai, Jiao Pengda from Gansu, Jiang Kun from Yunnan, and Liu Biao from Qinghai.
While the domestic riders are strong, the international members of the squad are equally impressive. Jann Kirsipuu from Estonia, a former wearer of the yellow jersey in the Tour de France and multiple stage winner, is part of the team. His fellow countryman Mart Ojavee is the current Estonian national champion. Aaron Kemps, an Australian street race champion, Belgian sprinter Gorik Gardeyn, and others bring a wealth of riding experience. The addition of these international cycling stars gives the ZOIS team a promising outlook.
Zhang Bin, Secretary-General of the Chinese Cycling Association, attended the launch and noted that the grand debut of the ZOIS Continental Cycling Team brings new development opportunities for cycling in China and provides a broad platform for Chinese cyclists to compete on the world stage.
Currently, opportunities for Asian participants in major international events remain scarce. In light of this, the primary goal of the ZOIS Professional Continental Cycling Team is to enable Asia’s best cyclists to compete on the highest level of the sport. Founder Shi Mind also hopes the team can become the first to participate in World Tour events and the first Asian team to take part in the Tour de France.
According to organizers, in less than a month, the team will compete in three of the world’s biggest races: the Tour of Qatar, the Tour of Oman, and the Tour de Langkawi.