Hong Kong Cycling told to shed small-town mentality, as head coach reveals Olympic talent identification plan
- Hong Kong poised to have only three cyclists at 2024 Olympics in Paris, head coach Dagorne ‘absolutely not satisfied’ with number
- Frenchman’s contract is for only two years, but he is confident of being able to implement his plans over a longer period
Head coach Herve Dagorne has urged Hong Kong cycling to discard its small-town mentality, and try to challenge the sport’s established powers.
The Frenchman presented cycling chiefs with an eight-year plan as part of his application for the post, and is in the initial stages of overhauling the sport in the city.
Dagorne plans to identify potential world-class cyclists from other sports, and will provide endurance cyclists with a regular diet of high-quality European road racing.
He was also behind the appointment of Leung Chung-wing, the 2018 Asian Games gold medallist, as assistant coach, and expects to have a new sprint coach on board soon.
At the Paris Olympics, Hong Kong will be represented by Ceci Lee Sze-wing in the omnium, and one rider in each of the men’s and women’s road races. Dagorne said he was “absolutely not satisfied” with the number, and expressed concerns cycling could be overtaken by other sports, such as fencing and swimming.
“Sometimes people tell me we are small, but it is not true, we have seven million people,” Dagorne said. “That is much more than the populations of New Zealand [5.1 million], and Denmark [5.9 million], and they are leaders in cycling.
“It is maybe easier for them to organise races, but we must have the will to compete. My job is to bring medals to Hong Kong, and we have to build the success. It will take time to have results at world-class level, but the Asian Games is in two years, and I want to be in the top three in Asia, and challenging Japan and China in every event.”
Dagorne’s contract is for only two years, in line with policy at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, which is government funded. But he is confident of maintaining the support of the city’s cycling bosses to implement his plans over a longer period, and said the “next generation of riders” would be a more likely source of global medals than the current crop.
The 57-year-old pointed to the Australian Institute of Sport’s base in Northern Italy as evidence of the value of competing on the European scene.
“We want a routine like most Western countries, whose endurance riders compete every weekend,” Dagorne said. “Before, we were staying in the same place, and only training, for long periods. We need more world-level races, if every week you are racing 180 to 200 riders, you learn about cycling. It is crucial for development, for endurance and for technical management.”
Dagorne’s eight-year blueprint encompasses the 2028 and 2032 Olympics in Los Angeles and Brisbane, respectively.
He is already plotting to “increase our quota, and win medals” – which is where the talent identification scheme comes into play.
“We need to take the initiative, and want to clearly identify potential star talent” said Dagorne, who rode at the 1988 and 1992 Games.
“We already have a pathway for detection, but we need to have a wider net, to go to other sports and disciplines. I don’t want to take [top performers] from other sports, but an athlete limited in their event could have the skill we need. The starters for 2028, for example, could be doing BMX or rowing right now. We have to detect them, and attract them to sprint cycling.”
