Hong Kong cycling coach in hurry for success after hiring France Olympic superstar

After completing the interminable process of assembling a world-class coaching team that “knows what it is to win”, Herve Dagorne said he needed to “hurry up” and deliver a champion Hong Kong cyclist before time runs out on his reign.

The appointment of two-time Olympic silver medallist Kevin Sireau to lead the city’s sprint squad was the final piece in a particularly tricky jigsaw that head coach Dagorne has been attempting to piece together for the past two years.

Also a three-time world champion, Sireau began work on Monday, joining a staff that also features Mickael Bouget, the former Swiss track cycling head coach, and Remi Anase, who helped mastermind fellow Frenchman Benjamin Thomas’s 2024 omnium Olympic gold.

Also enlisted are Cheung King-wai, the 2006 Asian Games points race champion, Anthony Peden, the ex-New Zealand sprint head coach who led Hong Kong to a shock men’s team sprint bronze from the recent Games, and road endurance chief Ben Kersten, a 2006 Commonwealth Games gold medallist.