UCI Track Nations Cup: quality action on the track, but opening night falls flat, as Hongkongers stay away
- The UCI Track Nations Cup returns to Hong Kong for the first time since 2021
- Major home hope Ceci Lee Sze-wing in action on Saturday, following opening day struggles for home team
The return of world-class track cycling to Hong Kong fell flat on Friday, despite a series of captivating performances from some of the sport’s leading stars.
The two home teams in action on the opening day of the UCI Track Championships, at Hong Kong Velodrome in Tseung Kwan O, had days to forget.
Organisers, who priced tickets fairly, with prices ranging from HK$50 to HK$200 across the three days, did not reveal attendance figures for the night’s session, when Great Britain’s formidable women’s team pursuit quartet, and the lighting men’s sprint trio from Denmark were among those crowned winners.
But of the 1,500 seats available, however, only around 25 per cent were occupied. Sales for Saturday were “not very good”, a source told the Post, with roughly 50 per cent of Sunday’s 3,000 tickets, across two sessions, still available.
The Track Nations Cup, last staged behind closed doors in Hong Kong during the height of the pandemic in 2021, is an elite, three-leg, competition, attracting many of the best riders on the planet.
It is particularly important this year, with its generous offering of qualifying points for the summer Olympic Games.
