Weakened physically and mentally by the injuries she sustained in a heavy crash last weekend, Ceci Lee Sze-wing ended her UCI Track World Cup campaign on a subdued note in Malaysia on Sunday night.
The Hongkonger finished 11th in her treasured omnium discipline, as Anita Stenberg repeated her success from last month’s opening leg in Perth.
Still bearing the vivid scars from her tumble in the Hong Kong-staged second leg seven days earlier, Lee was up against it in Nilai after finishing down in 17th in the opening scratch race.
She rallied to claim seventh in the tempo discipline but was the eighth rider in the 23-strong field to be ejected from the elimination race. Lee added 22 points to her tally in the closing points race but was 49 adrift of Stenberg’s 117-point haul in the final reckoning.
“It wasn’t a good day,” said Herve Dagorne, the Hong Kong head coach. “Ceci has been very affected by her injuries all weekend; physically at first, but they have also impacted her mentally.
“It’s hard to focus on your performance when you’re feeling a lot of pain, and it affected her tactics and technique.”