China's 15th National Games poised for cross-boundary road cycling race

GUANGZHOU, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- The road cycling competition at China's 15th National Games kicked off Friday in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, with a landmark cross-boundary race scheduled for Saturday.

Shandong's Miao Chengshuo and Hainan's Zhang Hao won the men's and women's individual trials, respectively, on Friday.

"I didn't overthink the result, just trying to give full play to what I had trained," said Miao, who clocked a winning time of 46 minutes 17.32 seconds in the 38.7-kilometer race, more than 10 seconds ahead of Tianjin's Xue Ming. Miao's teammate Cao Houwang finished third in 46:35.43.

Tipped as one of the most anticipated events of the 15th National Games, the men's road race will be held on Saturday, with riders covering a 231.8-kilometer route that crosses the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge six times without interruption. The race is the only one during the Games that connects the three host regions -- Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao -- in a single competition.

"I feel very proud of riding into Hong Kong and Macao as an athlete," Miao added.

Zhang topped the podium in the women's 30.1-kilometer race with a time of 39 minutes 2.87 seconds, followed by Jiangsu's Wei Suwan and Henan's Chen Si.