Hong Kong cycling star Sarah Lee seeks redemption after early sprint exit at UCI Nations Cup
- The 35-year-old bowed out of her sprint race early, beaten in the last-16 by eventual bronze medallist Ellesse Andrews
- The 21-year-old rising star Lee Sze-wing will compete in the women’s omnium on Saturday, while Lee will hope to bounce back in the keirin
Cycling ace Sarah Lee Wai-sze has a keirin race on Sunday to make up for an early exit in the individual sprint at the UCI Nations Cup in Colombia on Friday.
Lee gained momentum in the first knockout round by defeating Helena Casas Roige of Spain, but was beaten in the last-16 by eventual bronze medallist Ellesse Andrews of New Zealand.
The individual sprint was won by Mathilde Gros, a young French cyclist who scored the quickest time of 10.566 in the 200m flying start.
The 35-year-old’s most recent competition was the National Games in September, where she earned a gold medal in sprint and a bronze in keirin. Lee has been concentrating on her study at Baptist University until she returned to team training in Kunming in early May.
One day before the individual sprint, Lee teamed up with two young riders, Yeung Cho-yiu and Han Sze-wing, to compete in the team sprint, where they finished sixth with a time of 51.180 seconds in qualifying, but were upset by France in the first round, despite improving their time to 51.164.
Last May, Hong Kong sent a team to compete in the women’s team sprint at the city’s Nations Cup, with Lee, Yeung, and the retired Jessica Lee Hoi-yan clocking 50.029.
Women’s team pursuit was also in action on Thursday, with Lee Sze-wing, the National Games road race gold medallist, partnering with Yang Qianyu, Pang Yao, and Leung Bo Yee finishing fourth in qualifying in four minutes 49.024 seconds, more than 22 seconds behind the top team China.
Teammate Leung Wing-yee replaced Pang in the first round of the team pursuit, but was overlapped by eventual winner China, followed by another defeat by Colombia in the bronze medal race.
The 21-year-old rising star Lee Sze-wing will compete in her main event – women’s omnium on Saturday, while veteran Lee returns for the specialty keirin event on Sunday.
Cali’s stop is the final leg of the 2022 Nations Cup, and cyclists will be looking to earn points to qualify for the Track World Championships in France which take place between October 12 and 16.
