Young German guns out to upstage Hong Kong’s Sarah Lee in World Cup series
- Treble junior world champion Emma Hinze aims to take revenge after losing to the Hong Kong star twice this month
- Germany remain strong as a team despite missing former ace Vogel who suffered a crippling accident last year
Sarah Lee Wai-sze be warned. Germany’s women’s track sprinters may be missing double Olympic gold medallist Kristina Vogel but the youngsters are out to prove they are a force to be reckoned with when the Hong Kong leg of the World Cup series gets under way on Friday.
Former treble world junior champion Emma Hinze heads the young German legion at the Tseung Kwan O velodrome, eager for revenge having lost to Hong Kong’s star rider twice so far this season, while Hinze’s team sprint partner at the 2015 junior World Championships, 21-year-old Pauline Grabosch, will be another danger after they joined hands to set a world junior record.
Vogel, now 29, was the undisputed top women’s sprinter in the world before the tragic accident during a practice session in Cottbus velodrome last year that left Vogel paralysed from the waist down.
“She’s a great rider and already did very well in her mid-20s, but Kristina and Emma are two different riders,” said Hinze, who was preparing for her three sprinting events in Hong Kong beginning with the team sprint on Friday. “We don’t have to compare as I am only 22 and there is plenty of room for improvement.”
The youngster collected a bronze medal in the sprint in the Minsk round of the series earlier this month, after losing to Lee in the semi-finals. In the final of the following round in Glasgow, Hinze had to settle for second best when the Hong Kong star rider beat her again.
