Cheung King-lok completes domestic double after road race victory
Hong Kong coach Shen praises young cyclist, who adds road race gold to time trial victory
Cheung King-lok underlined his credentials as Hong Kong's best male rider yesterday when he added the road race gold medal to his victory a day earlier in the time trial at the domestic championships.
The double is a timely confidence boost for the 23-year-old ahead of the Incheon Asian Games in September.
Cheung, who only returned from the team training camp in Kunming on Friday night, finished the men's 105km mass start road race on Bride's Pool Road in Tai Po yesterday in two hours, 44 minutes and 22 seconds.
He was only an endurance rider before, but has recently improved a lot on sprinting through a series of strength training programmes
Former Hong Kong member Yeung Ying-hon, now riding for a Singapore-based professional team, came second in the seven-lap race, while Cheung's elder brother, King-wai, was third.
In the women's event, over 60km, Hong Kong team member Meng Zhaojuan, who won the general classification of the Tour of Thailand in April, clinched the title, covering the five laps in 1:53:18. The former mainlander was followed by Yang Qianyu (1:53:24) and Leung Bo-yee (1:53:30). Meng will be one of two Hong Kong representatives in the road race in Incheon.
Cheung, who won a scratch race silver medal at the World Track Cup Classic in January and two gold medals at the Asian Championships in May, earned praise from coach Shen Jinkang.
"He has a strong appetite for training and no matter how hard it is, he will give his best," said the coach.