Hong Kong mega bridge to close as National Games cyclists hit the road on Saturday
Journeys to airport could face delays of up to 30 minutes as cyclists race along North Lantau Highway and area surrounding Disneyland
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge will be closed to both public and private transport for several hours on Saturday for a National Games road cycling event, and journeys to the city’s airport could face delays of up to 30 minutes due to the race.
The 231.8km (144-mile) men’s individual road cycling event will be held across three cities on Saturday, with 55.8km of the race taking place in Hong Kong.
The other segments of the race will be held in Zhuhai and Macau.
“To facilitate the overall arrangement of the competition, Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau would implement temporary control measures at specific time periods on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, border crossings and some roads,” said Yeung Tak-keung, head of the National Games Coordination Office in Hong Kong.
He said the three regions had made every effort to minimise the duration of the temporary control measures to ease the impact on traffic flow in surrounding areas and alleviate the inconvenience to users of border facilities and the bridge.
According to authorities, 104 cyclists will take part in the race, with nine from Hong Kong. It will start in Zhuhai at 9am, where it is predicted to end at around 2.30pm.
The cyclists are expected to be in Hong Kong between 10.20am and 11.50am.
Yeung said the section heading into Hong Kong from Macau or Zhuhai would be closed to vehicles between 9am and 12.30pm. The opposite direction, meanwhile, would be closed between 7.30am and 12.30pm, he added.
Border crossing facilities on the Hong Kong side will also be closed from 6.30am, with authorities urging those who wish to cross the border to arrive at the bridge before this time.
Public transport services on the bridge, including shuttle bus services and cross-border buses, will be suspended during this period.
While border-crossing and transport services will resume after 12.30pm, there will be limited shuttle bus services from Hong Kong to Zhuhai between 12.30pm and 1.30pm as road closures in the city will end at 2.30pm. Services between Macau and Hong Kong will not be affected.
Beyond the bridge, parts of the competition route would also cover segments of the North Lantau Highway and the area surrounding Hong Kong Disneyland, with authorities adopting rolling traffic controls.
“Due to the road traffic arrangements, travel time to the airport via the North Lantau Highway is expected to increase by about 30 minutes,” Yeung said.
Authorities have urged the public to plan ahead for their journeys on Saturday, adding that travellers headed to mainland China during the closures can consider using the city’s other border crossings.
Those travelling to the airport, Hong Kong Disneyland and Tung Chung are encouraged to use the city’s rail services.
The Games, co-hosted by Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macau, will officially open on Sunday and run until November 21.
Hong Kong is hosting fencing, golf, track cycling, men’s handball, rugby sevens, beach volleyball, basketball and triathlon, as well as a mass participation event for bowling.
Hong Kong cycling’s secret weapon in Ceci Lee National Games golden quest
Head coach Herve Dagorne set to lean on the experience and intelligence of Yang Qianyu, as city team plot sprint finale
Herve Dagorne has backed Yang Qianyu to rein in the provincial rivals who may try to upset Ceci Lee Sze-wing’s pursuit of a second straight National Games cycling road race title.
Yang reneged on her retirement plans after initially quitting the sport following her 2023 Asian Games road race gold.
Plagued by a back problem since her return to competition, the 32-year-old, also a National Games champion on the track in 2017, has had her recent workload carefully managed by Dagorne.
“Her target now is to help Ceci, we haven’t asked that of her, but it’s what she wants to do,” Dagorne said.
On a flat Zhuhai course, Hong Kong plan to engineer the sprint finish that would allow 24-year-old Lee to capitalise on her explosive pace.
“It’s going to be a difficult race to manage, the provinces know who won last time and they’ll reduce our windows of opportunity,” Dagorne said. “The provinces without strong sprinters will be launching non-stop attacks.
“Yang hasn’t got her shape from the Asian Games, but she has the knowledge [to control a race]. She’s managing her health issue, although she’s still suffering, but she enjoys the rhythm of training and the competition. She’s one of our strongest riders and we’ve preserved her for this.”
On Friday, Lee competed in a men’s grade race at AusCycling’s Friday Night Track Series in Perth, the Australian city where Hong Kong are based for a pre-Games camp.
“It was to help her work even harder and improve on the physical side, she did well and was in the middle of the peloton,” Dagorne said.
Fellow members of the Hong Kong women’s road crew, Boey Leung Bo-yee, Kwan Tsz-kwan and Guardiola Cheung Lee-tong are “physically good and progressing”.
“We have a good dynamic, our chance to win is Ceci in a sprint, so that’s what we’re focusing on,” Dagorne said.
While the women will compete on the Games’ official opening day, November 9, the men will race 24 hours earlier over 231.8 kilometres, spanning Zhuhai, Hong Kong and Macau.
“It will be completely different for us, because we don’t have an asset like Ceci,” said Dagorne.
He anticipated a “windy and tough” race, and a particularly stern test over the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.
The Frenchman said Chu Tsun-wai, 24, would be his squad’s best bet should the race come down to a sprint finale. A more likely eventuality, Dagorne said, would be riders dropping like flies over a distance rarely tackled in Asia, leaving a small group to fight for honours.
That scenario would suit the big engine of 29-year-old Vincent Lau Wan-yau, who claimed Asian Games time trial bronze in 2023.
“In a long, tough race, Vincent is a key element in the team,” Dagorne said. “It’ll be really open, we want as many riders in the front group as possible.”
A number of Hong Kong’s men are prioritising the track, but they have all recently completed major stage races.
Chu had three top-25 finishes at the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia, where a number of city riders completed the eight stages. Lau placed 45th out of 103 finishers at September’s 11-stage Tour of Poyang Lake.
“They’ve made a big step and completed a large block of work,” said Dagorne, who also saw Ng Pak-hang win the Gold Cup scratch race in Perth’s SpeedDome on Friday.
“Australia cycling have really helped us,” Dagorne added. “Training has been perfect and we’ve had good competition.”
