Hong Kong cycling star Sarah Lee to miss International Cup next month, as city squad readies for Asian Championships
- Head coach confirms Lee will be missing over May 26-28 but says event will provide a chance to see how riders stack up against some of best in region
- Eleven overseas teams will join the hosts as preparation for Asian Championships and Asian Games
Hong Kong’s cyclists hope to make the most of home advantage at next month’s International Cup, as the squad prepares for two major regional events later this year.
Head coach Shen Jinkang said he would send more than 20 top riders for the three-day event at Tseung Kwan O velodrome, but double Olympic bronze medallist Sarah Lee Wai-sze would not be among them.
With the Asian Championships in June, and the Asian Games in September, Shen said the competition over May 25-28 was an early chance to see how his riders stacked up against some of the best in the region.
“The Asian Games remain the most important event of the year and therefore we have to make full use of the regional championships,” he said.
“We don’t have too many chances like this. We skipped the Asian Championships last year because of Covid-19 and many Asian countries are coming through recently while Japan, South Korea and China remain always the regional powerhouses.”
Considered a Class 1 event by the sport’s world governing body, the International Cycling Union, next month’s competition will feature 12 teams, with riders coming from New Zealand, Romainia, Japan, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong.
However, there are no riders coming from mainland China, with the event too close to domestic competitions across the border.
All Hong Kong team members are currently under training in their mainland base in Yunnan province and will return home days before the Hong Kong event after competing in the Chinese track cycling series.
Of those who will be racing, Cecilia Lee Sze-wing remains the biggest hope of success for the city’s team.
The 21-year-old has taken part in all three legs of the Nations Cup this year, which forms part of the qualification process for the 2024 Paris Olympics, as do the Asian Championships, the 2023 World Championships in Glasgow, next year’s three rounds of the Nations Cup and the 2024 Asian Championships.
After the competition in May, Hong Kong’s cyclists will leave for the China National Championship in Hangzhou, which is serving as a test event for the Asian Games.
Officials, meanwhile, are still working on plans to have the first of next year’s Nations Cup races in Hong Kong, although Leung Hung-tak, chairman of the city’s Cycling Association, said “nothing is confirmed yet”.
“All three legs are part of the Olympic qualification which can attract top riders, but if some of them have already assured of their spots for Paris, they may not join the later part of the series,” he said.
