At the third round of the UCI Artistic Cycling World Cup, UCI World Champion Lukas Kohl earned his third win of the year to finish at the top of the overall standings ahead of Martin Schön (Bokod/HUN). His enduring memory of the event will be the warmth of the hosts: “I don’t think I’ve ever signed so many autographs or taken so many photos with people. It was fantastic!”
In sporting terms, there were few surprises in Hong Kong apart from UCI World Champion Milena Slupina (Bernlohe/GER) missing out on her third successive win after finishing third behind European Champion Viola Brand (Unterweissach/GER) and Maren Haase (Hoffnungsthal/GER). Slupina still secured the overall victory despite this setback.
In the Pair Women event, Sophie Nattmann and Caroline Wurth (Gutach/GER) emulated their compatriot Kohl’s achievement with their third World Cup triumph in a row.
In the Men’s Pairs, Serafin Schefold and Max Hanselmann (Öhringen/GER) delivered the best HRS performance so far this year and secured victory in the overall standings with an outstanding score of 300 points.
The only event won by competitors from outside Germany was the ACT4 Open category, where the reigning UCI World Champions from Sirnach, Switzerland, dominated the event. Melanie Schmid, Jennifer Schmid, Céline Burlet and Flavia Zuber finished ahead of the hosts’ all-male team of Kwan Lok Yu, Cheuk Kwan So, Cheuk Sang So and Chak Hei Chan (SCAA), who were making their World Cup debut.
2018 UCI Cycle-ball World Cup #Final, Erlenbach (Neckar), Germany > 17 November
Chin To Wong (CHACC/HKG) is arguably the only rider who can currently challenge Germany’s dominance in the Single Men event. The man from Hong Kong has won four bronze medals at the UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships since 2013, making him the most successful Asian rider in the sport. He will be among the medal favourites at the UCI Artistic Cycling World Cup final in Erlenbach on 17 November. His younger brother Chin Man is one of the world’s best riders at U-15 level and finished third in the unofficial HRS annual world rankings, while sister Hiu Shuen is the current Asian and national champion in the Pairs Women category.