UCI Track Nations Cup: ‘sleeping’ Ceci Lee disappointed with lowly omnium finish, ‘I put too much expectation on myself’
- Hongkonger finished 12th in Sunday’s Nations Cup omnium, after placing 12th in the previous day’s Madison
- Brilliant Briton Emma Finucane wins third gold, with second meeting triumphs for Yumi Kajihara, Kaiya Ota, and Aaron Gate
Ceci Lee Sze-wing says she was inhibited by her own and the public’s expectations, after labouring to a 12th-placed finish in her strongest omnium suit at the UCI Track Nations Cup on Sunday.
The 22-year-old was vying for Olympic qualification points in front of the largest, and most partisan crowd of the three-day event in Tseung Kwan O.
She entered the final points race 10th in the overall standings, after placing 12th, seventh, and 10th, respectively, in the earlier scratch, tempo, and elimination races.
Lee rode conservatively in the closing race, however, settling in the peloton for long periods. As she lost position, head coach Herve Dagorne could be heard shouting: “You are sleeping”.
“I was not thinking anything, then heard he was screaming at me, and thought, ‘I have to do a sprint’,” Lee said.
With points awarded every 10 laps, in the 80-lap race, Lee earned two points for finishing third in sprint number two. She finished fourth in the final sprint, worth double points, to add another two.
“She was getting a little bit lost, and I felt like she was sleeping,” Dagorne said. “In the last sprint, she came from nowhere. If she had come from fourth position, she could have won the sprint, and had 10 points.
“It is good for the public [late surge], but not for the points.”
Lee’s ambitions of qualifying for the Olympics in the Madison took a hit on Saturday night, when, with partner Leung Wing-yee, she finished 10th, and lost ground on Hong Kong’s closest rivals in the chase for Paris spots.
Lee, who said she did not implement her race strategy, refused to use the quick turnaround as an excuse for falling well short of her omnium top-seven target.
“Others came from yesterday and did great today” Lee, far and away Hong Kong’s stronger rider, said. “I have to progress after this race.
“I enjoyed the home support, but I put too much expectation on myself. The support provided motivation, but also pressure.
“I was thinking too much before the race, about all the people who wanted us to have good results. But, finally, I did not get anything.
“There is a lot of interest from the media and public, so it is hard to avoid the attention. Herve said I had to do it for myself, and not anybody else. I did not do it in this race, and hope I can do what he asks in the future.”
Lee remains in a “good position” for an Olympic berth, ahead of the final chance to claim qualifying points, at April’s closing Nations Cup leg in Canada.
Before the points race, Dagorne said he told the rider to “remember the name of the race”.
“In football, you do not wait until the last minute to try to score,” he said. “When she went for the last sprint, it showed she still had lots of energy, which she could have used earlier. It was a new pressure, though, competing at home, in front of friends and family. It is high-level competition, and she is still in a good place for the Olympics.”
Japan’s Yumi Kajihara, the Tokyo Olympic silver medallist, won the omnium, adding to her elimination race success on Friday.
Another Japanese, Kaiya Ota, beat Matthew Richardson in the men’s sprint final, to follow up his Saturday night keirin triumph. The Hong Kong pair of To Cheuk-hei and Yung Tsun-ho failed to advance from the morning heats.
New Zealand’s men claimed the Madison, a second title in successive days for Aaron Gate, winner of Saturday’s omnium.
Star of the meeting, the imperious British sprint world champion Emma Finucane, 21, added the keirin title to her victories in the team and individual sprint races.
Ng Sze-wing and Yeung Cho-yiu, both from Hong Kong, were eliminated in the morning keirin repechage races.
