Cheung King-lok beats South Korean rival to road gold at Asian Cycling Championships and eyes repeat of 2016 double

Hong Kong’s Cheung King-lok snatched his second gold medal in three years in the men’s road race individual time trial at the Asian Cycling Championships after another excellent performance in Myanmar on Saturday.

Cheung, who turned 27 on Thursday, completed the 42-kilometre (26.1 miles) race in 49 minutes and 53 seconds – three seconds ahead of old rival Choe Hyeong-min of South Korea.

The Hong Kong rider also beat Choe in the 2016 regional championships in Japan when Cheung clinched his first Asian title. Last year in Bahrain, Cheung came third while the South Korean was second.

Later in the afternoon, Vivien Chiu Wai-wan made it a golden day for Hong Kong by capturing the team’s second gold in Myanmar when she came first in the girls’ junior road race.

Third place went to Arvin Moazami Godarzi of Iran who was almost a minute behind the champion, finishing in 50:52. Fumiyuki Beppu of Japan, riding for World Tour team Trek-Segafredo, was fourth.

It was the second time Cheung has stood on the podium in Myanmar after he led the Hong Kong riders to a bronze medal in the team time trial on his birthday. The Rio 2016 Olympian still has a chance to complete a gold medal double when he races in the mass start road race on Monday.