Wong Kam Po wins at Tour de Taiwan

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It’s anniversary time at the 24th Tour de Taiwan. Two days ahead of turning 39, Hong Kong’s cycling legend Wong Kam Po confirmed his status as Asia’s top cyclist only three weeks after claiming the continental title for road race in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Stage 2 gave Saxo Bank’s Takashi Miyazawa the possibility to send a message of happiness back home exactly one year after the tragic earthquake devastated Japan. Citing March 11, the 2010 national champion who carried his country’s flag on the start line and in the morning breakaway of Milan-San Remo last year broke into tears as he commented on his new role of race leader at the Tour de Taiwan. He took the command with six seconds of an advantage over Drapac’s Rhys Pollock and Wong.

“Team Saxo Bank came here to win stages and GC,” Miyazawa said. “My first job is to work for our sprinters Jonathan [Cantwell] and [Lucas] Sebastian [Haedo] but when I get a chance, I try my luck in a breakaway in order to win a stage. That’s how yesterday and today I ended up at the front and I’m now in the lead. I’m very happy to be in yellow. I don’t know how I can go in tomorrow’s uphill finish. However, it’s the right day to bring good news to Japan. I don’t forget what happened exactly one year ago.”

Miyazawa was highly emotional when he pronounced those words. So was Wong as he mentioned his possible retirement sometimes this year. “Yes I feel a little bit old for racing and I’m almost at the end of my cycling career,” said the Hong Kong star, who already has four participations at the Olympic Games under his belt (Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008). London might be the end of the road for him, as Hong Kong has qualified one rider for the road race and possibly one more for the omnium on the track. So it gives the 2007 world champion for scratch race in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, two options to ride his fifth and final Olympics.

“But I might as well give way to younger riders,” he said. “If I do the Olympics, I’ll probably retire the day after. If I don’t, I might even retire before July because I’m pushed to move into coaching as soon as possible.”

Wong made history for Asian cycling when he won stage 4 of the 2000 Le Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia and became the first Asian to do so at the race that was once the highest ranked on the continent. He dropped the likes of Russian Giro d’Italia winner Evgeni Berzin off his wheel to claim victory at the top of the Cameron Highlands. “This was my first big international win”, admitted the man who has since been recognized as Asia’s most successful cyclist due to his versatility on the track and on the road, as much in sprinting as in climbing.

The 2006 and 2010 Asian Games champion has for sure won much more bike races than the Japanese who have completed the recent Grand Tours (Yukiya Arashiro, Fumiyuki Beppu and Yokihiro Doi).

“I’m not sure if I’m Asia’s most successful cyclist ever,” moderated a very humble Wong. “Cycling has developed in Asia only lately. There is still a big gap with Europe. What I have achieved matters less than what’s coming up in the next few decades. The best Asian cyclist ever will be the one who will show the best sporting spirit.”

When he travelled from Hong Kong to Taiwan to take part in his first stage race of the 2012 season, Wong joked with his team-mates. “Keep me covered and unseen for the first three days of racing, I want to wait for my birthday to win stage 4,” he told them. He was obviously happy to have anticipated the time set for celebration. “A large group of riders (48) made the selection in the main hill of the day,” he said. “The wind on the sea side after the last climb with 25 km to go made it easier to split the group. We got a 30 seconds lead and the uphill finish suited my sprinting abilities at perfection.”

Wong outsprinted veteran 38-year-old former German champion Dirk Muller from Nutrixxion and Drapac’s flying Dutchman Floris Goesinnen in New Taipei City on the north coast of Taiwan.

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