National Games: emotional cyclist Chu sorry for Hong Kong missing medal in men’s road race
City’s hopes for success in race that crossed Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge disappear in sprint finish won by Shandong’s Liu Zhicheng
Hong Kong’s hopes of a medal in the men’s cycling road race disappeared in a sprint for the line in Zhuhai on Saturday, with Shandong’s Liu Zhicheng taking gold.
Beijing’s Xue Chaohua edged just ahead of Hu Haijie, from Yunnan, to take silver, while Hong Kong’s top finisher after more than five hours was Chu Tsun-wai, who came home in 15th.
The city’s next best two riders were Cheung Shi-ho in 21st and Yau Ping-cheung three places behind, both finishing the 231.8km (144 miles) course in five hours, 17 minutes and five seconds, alongside 49 other riders.
After a crash halted his podium charge in the men’s time trial on Friday, Vincent Lau Wan-yau, who harboured hopes of winning the race, could only come in 83rd in a time of 5:18:03, some 58 seconds behind the winner.
Chu thanked his teammates for putting him in a position to challenge for a medal in the final sprint.
“I am so sorry that I didn’t bring a medal back home,” Chu said. “At the final sprint, me and my teammates could have done it better, so there were some mistakes when we were fighting for positions, and the result was not such a good ranking.”