Hong Kong’s Lee Sze-wing pays price for missing bike and lack of practice at UCI Nations Cup stop in Colombia
- Rising star one of 5 city athletes whose bicycles went missing on trip from Hong Kong to Colombia
- Teammate Sarah Lee again hints at retirement after finishing fourth in keirin and missing out on sprint medal
Hong Kong’s Lee Sze-wing finished a disappointing 12th in the women’s omnium on her UCI Nations Cup debut, after her bike went missing and she was forced to borrow one from a teammate.
The rising star was one of five athletes from the city’s 11-strong squad who had to compete in Colombia using borrowed equipment, after their bicycles disappeared on the journey from Hong Kong to Cali.
Double Olympic bronze medallist Sarah Lee Wai-sze at least had her own bike, but her best finish was fourth in the women’s keirin, and she was knocked out in the second round of the sprint, an event in which she had been expected to challenge for a spot on the podium.
Both women pointed to a lack of competition over the past 10 months as another reason they were off the pace, and although Sarah Lee is sticking with the squad, she again hinted at possibly retiring in an Instagram post.
“Long time no race,” she wrote. “Try hard to adapt those high speed races. Happy for my result, and see you … maybe.”
Hong Kong left the four-day Nations Cup event empty-handed and will now travel to Izu, Japan, for three events; the Japan Track Cup I and II at the end of this month and the JICF International Track Cup in early August.
“I’ve been travelling with the team for a few years, and this is the first time I’ve had this missing bike experience, so bad it’s before this big event,” Lee Sze-wing said.
“So what I can do is borrow a bike from a teammate. It’s definitely not the same as my own, and what affected me the most was the start. I discovered that I couldn’t reach my fullest speed on the start.”
