Hong Kong’s Ceci Lee Sze-wing successfully defended her women’s road race cycling title at the National Games in Zhuhai on Sunday – and could finally see why her coaches had so much faith in her.
Lee stormed across the line first to complete the 138.7km (86.2-mile) course in three hours, 19 minutes and 54 seconds, just ahead of Wei Xiaoqing from Guangdong and Sun Jiajun from Liaoning.
And she revealed afterwards that head coach Herve Dagorne’s pre-race confidence had left her stunned.
“[Dagorne] said at the individual meeting that my chance [to win] was 90 to 95 per cent,” Lee said. “I was like, for real? It felt like a 50-50 to me only.
Hong Kong’s Ceci Lee sprints for the line to win gold in Zhuhai. Photo: Eugene Lee
“And then during Saturday’s team meeting, the coach put a line, ‘We want the gold medal,’ on the final page. My name wasn’t next to it, but he did say I was the team’s best chance to win.”