Hong Kong rider returns from retirement as Ceci Lee is challenged on Asian gold count
Victor Lau back in city squad after recommitting to sport but made to wait for first appearance as Herve Dagorne names team pursuit quartet
After giving up his “new life” in the UK to rejoin the Hong Kong cycling programme, Victor Lau Wan-hei is in a city squad set to begin its Asian Track Championships campaign in the thin air of Tagaytay in the Philippines on Wednesday.
The brother of leading city road racer Vincent Lau Wan-yau, the 31-year-old Victor Lau had been working as a physiotherapist after quitting full-time competition to study the practice overseas.
Herve Dagorne, the Hong Kong head coach, said that Lau had never completely cut ties, returning home to compete in the annual national championships, and serving as a training partner for both his sibling and Ceci Lee Sze-wing before the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
“He retired before Covid and went to the UK for his studies, but we stayed in contact and he still had a passion for cycling and kept training,” Dagorne said.
On one of his visits home last July, Lau shocked an esteemed field, featuring Charles Ng Pak-hang, Franco Chu Tsun-wai, Mow Ching-yin and Tso Kai-kwong, to win scratch race gold at the National Track Championships.
“He mentioned to me then that he would be happy to help us if there was a chance,” Dagorne said. “There wasn’t enough time before [November’s] National Games, but he has signed a training-partner contract with Hong Kong Sports Institute and is eligible for selection.”