With the city experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases, the Hong Kong Cycling Association won’t be allowed to stage next month’s National Championships after being denied a road permit amid the worrying pandemic. Hong Kong recorded more than 100 cases of the deadly virus for the seventh straight day and the police, who usually issues a road permit, thought it was unsafe for the annual showpiece to go ahead. The association had planned to use the most important domestic cycling event to test their riders ahead of the UCI Road World Championships in Aigle, Switzerland in September but police said the local event simply cannot go ahead given the extraordinary circumstances. “We have been in close contact with the police regarding using the roads in Tai Mei Tuk and Tin Shui Wai for two races for the championships,” said association chairman Leung Hung-tak. “But on Monday we received an official letter saying that our request has been denied. “It did not surprise me as we all know the recent Covid-19 situation in Hong Kong [has actually worsen]. The latest group gathering and social distancing rules have already ruled out any large scale sporting events.” Cycling events set for August return if social distancing allows The individual time trial was scheduled to take place along Bride’s Pool Road in Tai Po on August 22 with the mass start road race to be staged in Tin Shui Wai the following day. The association was expecting a field of more than 300 participants each day including riders, officials and supporting family members. Leung said they would now ask the International Cycling Union (UCI) to see whether they could postpone their event to December, hoping the pandemic situation would be under control in Hong Kong by then. “The UCI has requested that all its member associations should start their own national championships in late August and we would like to know if we could still stage the event four months later,” he said. “It is not easy to find [two] suitable courses for cycling events and therefore we still want to stage it when the pandemic situation eases. “As we know, many sports events all over the world have been severely interrupted by the pandemic, we should be allowed to postpone our event by the world governing body and not be punished for it.” With the national championships in doubt, Leung said they would need to seek the advise of their coaching staff before deciding what strategy they should use for the Worlds – if the event goes ahead. Hong Kong gets surprise boost in Olympic men’s road race with qualifying berth One Hong Kong rider has qualified for the men’s elite category at the Worlds as a top 200 nation while four quotas have been received for the men’s Under-23 event. “Our riders haven’t had any road race competition upon completion of the 2019 Asian Tour in October so therefore we need to discuss with our coaching team before making a decision of what we are going to do,” he said. “Our young riders may not be as strong as their predecessors but it would be good exposure for them at world level [at the Worlds].” Retired Choi Ki-ho finished with the best-ever result in the men’s Under-23 Worlds when he came first among all Asian riders at the 2010 event in Geelong, Australia. He finished 34th overall. Choi Ki-ho puts HK on road to Games Leung said they are still monitoring the situation closely with the track National Championships that will feature local star Sarah Lee Wai-sze and other top riders. The event is scheduled for August 30 at Tseung Kwan O Velodrome. “The venue is now closed because of the pandemic but once it reopens, we still want to start the event there,” he said.