Hong Kong Cyclothon organiser apologises after lead vehicle misdirects riders away from Ting Kau Bridge

The organiser of a Hong Kong cycling race has apologised after a lead vehicle mistakenly diverted participants from a section of the race on Ting Kau Bridge, causing cyclists to miss out on scenic views of the city’s western waters.

In a Sunday evening statement, Sun Hung Kai Properties Hong Kong Cyclothon organisers the Cycling Association of Hong Kong, China said that its pilot car for the 32km race misjudged the route after an emergency lane was opened for ambulances to reach two cyclists who were injured in an accident.

“The [association] sincerely apologises for the disappointment and inconvenience caused by the lead vehicle’s misjudgment, which prevented participants in the 32 km group from riding the original Ting Kau Bridge route, caused them to miss out on the iconic course experience, and led to brief traffic congestion,” the statement read.

The Sunday race, which drew some 6,000 cyclists, started at the West Kowloon Cultural District, and was supposed to follow a picturesque route featuring Ting Kau Bridge and Stonecutters Bridge, offering “distinctive, spectacular urban and natural scenery,” according to the Tourism Board’s description.

‘Misjudged’

The association said in its Sunday statement that two cyclists in a different 56km event were injured earlier that morning while heading towards Ting Kau Bridge.

To ensure the injured cyclists received immediate medical treatment, on-site staff placed traffic cones near the entrance of the Nam Wan Tunnel to open an emergency lane, allowing ambulances to arrive as quickly as possible, it said.

The pilot car misjudged the route because of the traffic cones’ adjusted positions and assumed that the path of Ting Kau Bridge had been altered, the statement read.

“Consequently, it did not turn onto Ting Kau Bridge as originally planned and instead proceeded straight towards Nam Wan Tunnel,” the association said. As the section was a downhill stretch, cyclists could only follow into the tunnel to ensure safety, the statement explained.

The route adjustment resulted in brief bottlenecks along certain sections of the race, the association said, including near the finish line.

Large groups of cyclists could be seen dismounting and pushing their bikes towards the finish line, with some describing the race as a “push-a-thon” instead.

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James Lee is a reporter at Hong Kong Free Press with an interest in culture and social issues. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in Journalism from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he witnessed the institution’s transformation over the course of the 2019 extradition bill protests and after the passing of the Beijing-imposed security law.

Since joining HKFP in 2023, he has covered local politics, the city’s housing crisis, as well as landmark court cases including the 47 democrats national security trial. He was previously a reporter at The Standard where he interviewed pro-establishment heavyweights and extensively covered the Covid-19 pandemic and Hong Kong’s political overhauls under the national security law.