中國小夥環法自行車賽墊底但很放鬆

ST. LAURENT DE LA CABRERISSE, France — It was predictable that Marcel Kittel, the amiable sprinter who has won three stages in this year’s Tour de France, attracted a large crowd of reporters on the race’s rest day Monday.

法國聖洛朗德拉-卡布勒里斯——在今年的環法自行車賽中，極具親和力的衝刺冠軍馬塞爾·基特爾(Marcel Kittel)在三個賽段中勝出，因此，他在週一的比賽休息日吸引了大量記者也不足爲奇。

But while Ji Cheng, the man on the Giant Shimano team who chases down breakaways so that Kittel can do his work, was less of an attraction, he does hold two distinctions. He is the Lanterne Rouge, the rider in the last position over all, 4 hours 13 minutes behind the leader, Vincenzo Nibali. And he is the first Chinese rider ever in the race.

在這次比賽中，捷安特-禧瑪諾車隊的計成負責追上被拉開的距離，好讓基特爾專心完成自己的比賽。他當然沒那麼引人注目，但確實也擁有兩個與衆不同之處。他是“紅燈籠”，總成績在所有騎手中墊底，比第一名文森佐·尼巴里慢了4小時13分。此外，他還是首位參加環法自行車賽的中國選手。

While China is a nation where bicycles, despite a growing influx of cars and scooters, remain an important form of transportation, racing on them is far less common.

在中國，雖然汽車和小輪摩托車數量不斷激增，自行車仍然是重要的交通工具，儘管如此，自行車賽還是相當罕見。

Ji started out as a runner. But a dislike of the cold in his northern hometown, Harbin, set him off on a path that led him to the Tour.

計成起初是一名賽跑運動員。但由於不喜歡北方家鄉哈爾濱的嚴寒，他走上了另一條路，並最終來到環法自行車賽的賽場上。

Rather than cross-country ski, the preferred method of off-season training for runners in Harbin, Ji sought the warmth of an indoor velodrome.

在哈爾濱，賽跑選手在非賽季會通過越野滑雪進行訓練。然而，室內賽車體育場的溫暖纔是計成心之所向，越野滑雪不是。

“The track is not fun,” Ji said Monday. “The track is always lap after lap and the trainer is looking at his stopwatch and saying, ‘O.K. you were one second slower.’ ”

“田徑沒意思，”計成在週一說，“田徑就是一圈接着一圈跑，教練看着秒錶說，‘停，你比上次慢了一秒。’”

In road racing, by comparison, “you can train outside and you can see the people, you can see the view,” said Ji, 27. “It’s amazing for me.”

相比之下，就公路賽而言，“你可以在戶外訓練，你可以看見人羣，你可以看見風景，”現年27歲的計成說，“那讓我感覺妙不可言。”

Ji probably would not be racing in Europe if the Chinese subsidiary of Shimano, the large bicycle parts maker, had not set up a small program to get Chinese riders there in 2006.

如果大型自行車零件製造商禧瑪諾的中國子公司2006年沒有設立一個招募中國騎手參賽的小項目，計成或許就不會參加歐洲的比賽。

Ji’s knowledge of European road racing at that point was not extensive and based entirely on watching television.

當時，計成對歐洲公路賽的瞭解並不多，只是在電視上看到過。

“When you watch on the TV, you say: ‘Ah that’s nice, ah that’s cool, ah you saw that climb, ah you saw that attack, cool.’ But you really enjoy the race,” he said. “When you know what’s going on, it’s totally different.”

“看電視的時候，你會情不自禁地說：‘啊，這個運動好棒，好酷，你看這爬坡，你看這加速，酷。’你真的會很享受比賽，”他說，“但當你瞭解到比賽究竟是怎麼回事，那感覺就完全不一樣了。”

In China, Ji raced on relatively small circuits made up of closed four-lane highways. Despite the comparative lack of danger, coaches instructed Ji to brake before the corners and take them slowly, a route to failure in European racing. At the time, there were only two road races a year in China. In Europe, Ji now rides in about 45 a year.

在中國，計成曾在相對較小的環形賽道上比賽，由封閉的四車道公路組成。儘管相對沒什麼危險性，教練要求計成在彎道前減速，緩緩通過彎道，在歐洲的比賽中，這樣做必輸無疑。當時，中國每年只舉辦兩場公路賽。在歐洲，計成現在每年會參加約45場公路賽。

Although Ji cannot recall the name of the first race he rode in Europe, a one-day event in France in 2007, he certainly remembers the experience.

儘管計成已經想不起他在歐洲第一次參加的比賽叫什麼名字，但當時的感受仍然記憶猶新。那是2007年在法國舉辦的一場爲期一天的比賽。

“It was many narrow roads, everybody was just nervous and people were fighting for position,” Ji recalled. “For me it was just unbelievable. Why are people fighting like that?”

“有許多很窄的路段，大家都很緊張，都在爭搶有利位置，”計成回憶說，“這對我來說簡直難以置信，爲什麼人要這樣拼命？”

Punched several times during the race by rivals trying to move ahead, Ji did not finish.

在比賽中，計成被試圖超越的對手重重地撞了好幾次，沒能完成比賽。

Ji and the other two Chinese riders were sent to northern Holland and entered in that country’s numerous amateur criteriums. Held on short, tight circuits, each is a small war. Ji soon learned how to follow the pack through corners at speed without braking and, just as important, how to move up through the group. The inexperienced Chinese riders were always lined up at the back.

計成和另兩位中國車手曾被派到荷蘭北部，在那裏參加了不計其數的業餘公路自行車賽。這些比賽的賽程較短，場地都是緊湊的環形車道，每場比賽都是一場小型戰爭。計成很快學會了如何不剎車高速過彎，還有同樣重要的，如何在選手中向前移動。經驗不足的中國車手總是排成一行，落在後面。

“Of course we had a lot of crashes, we had a lot of bad experiences,” Ji said. “But we learned how to fight.”

“當然，我們摔倒過很多次，我們有過很多痛苦的經歷，”計成說，“但我們學會了如何戰鬥。”

He gradually moved up to higher levels of racing. In 2012, he raced in the Vuelta a España, and last year brought him to the Giro d’Italia. Both were Chinese cycling firsts.

他逐漸開始參加更高水平的比賽。2012年，他參加了環西自行車賽，去年參加了環意自行車賽，都是作爲首位中國選手參賽。

He remains the only one of a handful of Chinese riders Shimano sent to Europe who is still racing. But it has come at a cost. When the European season winds down and he returns home, Ji said that he is expected to then start racing for the Chinese national team.

在被派到歐洲的少數中國車手中，計成是唯一一個仍在參賽的。但他也爲此付出了代價。計成說，在歐洲賽季落下帷幕之後，他將回國，預計隨後將開始代表中國國家隊比賽。

“In China, it’s not like Europeans who say, ‘No, I’m tired, I don’t want to do that.’ ”

“在中國不像在歐洲，可以說‘不，我太累了，不想比了’。”

His now successful bid to make it to the Tour de France meant that Ji went four years without seeing his father, and he has not seen his wife, whom he married last year, for eight months.

爲了參加這次環法自行車賽，他已經四年沒有見過自己的父親，也已經八個月沒見到自己的妻子了。他和妻子去年剛剛結婚。

Ji said that his ride at the Tour was receiving considerable attention in China, where the race is broadcast daily.

計成說，他在環法自行車賽的比賽情況在中國受到了極大的關注。中國的媒體每天都在報道這項賽事。

Ji was not impressed by the cobblestones in one decisive stage of this year’s Tour. “When there’s such nice roads, why are you racing there?” he asked. And he finds noise from the large crowds sometimes headache-inducing.

今年環法自行車賽的一個賽段設置了石子路，但計成對此不以爲然。“有這麼好的公路，爲什麼要在那裏比賽？”他說。此外，他有時也覺得路旁觀衆發出的噪音令人頭疼。

He is, however, neither embarrassed nor bothered about being in last place. It is, Ji said, part of a plan. Mountain stages, days when his team leader, Kittel, will not be anywhere near the front to fight for the finish, he takes it easy to preserve energy for the flat days when he leads the Tour’s entire pack of riders. His only job on climbs is to make sure that everyone on his team avoids missing the time limit.

不過，雖然是倒數第一，他既不覺得尷尬，也不苦惱。計成說，這是賽前計劃的一部分。在山地賽段，隊長基特爾根本沒有領先衝刺的可能，他選擇爲平地賽保存體力，後來在平地賽中領騎。在登山階段，他唯一的任務是確保團隊中的每一個人不要錯過時限。

“I’ve really taken them easy,” he said of the Alpine stages. “Maybe I lost 20 minutes: That’s O.K., because I really need to relax to prepare for what’s coming.”

“我真的非常放鬆，”他提到山地賽段時說，“我可能浪費了20分鐘：沒關係，因爲我需要放鬆，爲接下來的比賽做準備。”

He added: “My parents, my friends understand why I’m in last position. When somebody don’t understand, that’s fine.”

他接着說：“我的父母和朋友都知道我爲什麼是最後一名。如果有人不知道，那也無所謂。”