Asian champion Li Meifang was out of the upcoming Beijing Olympics due to injury, said an official of Chinese Cycling Association (CCA) on Saturday.

"Li got injured in training several days ago and need to rest for at least one month, so she will not compete in the Olymics," said Jiang Guofeng, secretary general of CCA.

Under the guidance of Chinese Hong Kong coach Shen Jinkang, Li and her two teammates booked three women's road cycling berths for China, and now only Meng lang and Gao Min could fight hard to make a history for the Chinese road cycling.

Li Fuyu, a rider who won another berth for China will also miss the Olympics as he failed to make the Chinese team.

"Li won China a berth last year, and the berth was not belong to him, but to the country. We chose best cyclists to compete in the Olympics based on their physical conditions and form," said Jiang.

According to Jiang, Zhang Liang will represent China to compete in men's road cycling in the Olympics.

"Zhang is not as famous as Li, but he is younger and full of energy. Based on their performance and form in the past several months, we chose Zhang to compete in the Olympics," added Jiang.

Li Fuyu, a member of China's Continental team Marco Polo, is the first Chinese to join an International Cycling Union (UCI) ProTour team and is given a chance to race at the top three cycling events in the world - Tour de France, Tour de Spain and Giro'd Italia.

Li was supposed to be the Olympic road cycling hopeful since he won the GP Westfalen in Germany and enjoyed an overall win at the Tour of Thailand two years ago, the first time a Chinese rider ever won the overall at an international pro race.

Li will be Zhang's coach in the Olympics.

(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2008)