The Cycling (Road) Competition of the 15th National Games was held in Zhuhai from November 7th to 9th. This event featured four disciplines: Men’s Individual Time Trial, Women’s Individual Time Trial, Men’s Individual Road Race, and Women’s Individual Road Race.
The Men’s Individual Road Race stood out as the highlight of the competition. Held on November 8th, the race saw riders cross the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and pass through Zhuhai, Macao, Hong Kong, and the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin—marking the first cross-border cycling event in the history of the National Games.
Why was Zhuhai chosen for this cross-border race? Beyond its unique geographical location, the city’s romance was likely the biggest bonus factor.
Zhuhai boasts the longest coastline in the Pearl River Delta. As the core carrier of the “Coastal Sports Golden Bay”, Lovers’ Road connects multiple scenic spots such as Xianglu Bay and Jiuzhou Bay, creating a unique cycling view of “the urban skyline on one side and the vast blue waves on the other”.
Zhuhai’s romance is not a forced label but a natural integration of gifts from mountains and seas and urban wisdom. The city has etched the poetic philosophy of “pearls grow in shells, and shells come from the sea” into its urban fabric: Zhuhai Grand Theater lies on the sea like a white seashell, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge stretches across the blue waves like a giant dragon, and Lovers’ Road has been exquisitely built into a “galaxy on land”.
Zhuhai has constructed 1,290 kilometers of greenways and 133 kilometers of health trails, forming a three-level network covering “coastal areas-rivers and lakes-mountains”. Blessed with unique geographical conditions, Zhuhai has transformed cycling from a means of transportation into an immersive scenic experience. Urban parks, represented by Jinhu Park and Xidi Park, are interspersed with river and lake systems, forming a node network for “cycling + waterfront recreation + relaxation”.
Cyclists can easily access the green cores of parks, enjoying the convenience of “stepping onto a greenway right after leaving home and entering a park around the corner”. The city’s natural three-dimensional terrain, where mountains and seas connect, combines mountain trails such as Fenghuang Mountain and Jiangjun Mountain with flat coastal lanes. This setup not only meets the needs of casual cyclists for flat roads but also provides climbing challenges for professional enthusiasts, achieving multiple functions with a single route.
From the millennia-old Lingnan charm to an open and inclusive romantic city, every integration and symbiosis has brought new vitality to Zhuhai. Unlike many cities where cycling greenways are located in suburbs, Zhuhai realizes a seamless transition between urban and natural landscapes—Lovers’ Road is directly embedded in the city center, allowing cyclists to “ride through the city and breathe in nature”.
In recent years, leveraging characteristic coastal tourism resources such as Lovers’ Road, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, and island ring roads, Zhuhai has successfully hosted events including the Zhuhai Marathon, “Run Guishan”, and the 2024 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Road Cycling Race (which also served as the test event for the 15th National Games Road Cycling Competition). These have provided valuable experience for hosting more large-scale professional cycling events in the future.
Setting cycling tracks along the romantic coastline gives athletes and spectators the chance to enjoy beautiful scenery up close while participating in or watching races, fully appreciating Zhuhai’s stunning coastal natural landscapes. This has become an irreplaceable advantage for promoting the development of cycling in the city.
The Men’s Road Cycling Individual Race of the 15th National Games, with the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge as the link, achieved seamless connection between Zhuhai, Macao, and Hong Kong for the first time. It not only became the most iconic highlight of the National Games but also demonstrated the vigorous vitality of in-depth integration in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
The race started and finished at Zhuhai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall and Zhuhai Museum, passing through the city’s most popular cycling route—Lovers’ Road, which made its debut as a professional National Games track. The route turned into a dynamic stage for public viewing, allowing audiences to witness the racing skills of China’s top cyclists up close and experience the symphony of speed and sea breeze. This competition will spark a cycling boom in Zhuhai, encouraging residents to shift from “watching races” to “riding the tracks” and making healthy living a new urban fashion.
Building on the success of the 15th National Games cycling events, Zhuhai will explore organizing cycling competitions in the Greater Bay Area that link Hong Kong and Macao via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, and strive to create an annual “Tour of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Cycling Race”.
Zhuhai will continue to amplify the radiation effect of the 15th National Games, carrying out systematic and branded promotion and activation of the event. Treating the National Games track as a valuable asset, the city will actively collaborate with Hong Kong and Macao, fully leveraging the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge’s linking advantage to explore regularizing and branding the successful three-region competition system. This will transform “event popularity” into “urban momentum”, evolving cycling from a “professional sport” into a “lifestyle” and upgrading it from a Zhuhai feature to a Greater Bay Area calling card.
Focusing on cycling culture, Zhuhai will also explore systematically planning year-round themed cycling activities, amateur challenges, and youth training programs, as well as regular public-participation events such as “Zhuhai Cycling Week”. It will develop “cycling + food” tourist routes to continuously enhance the track’s brand value and appeal, attracting cycling enthusiasts worldwide to experience the unique charm of sea breeze and speed in Zhuhai, and turning the track into a dynamic window for the world to know Zhuhai and experience the Greater Bay Area. Innovative “cycling + food” and “cycling + cultural tourism” routes will be launched, including premium themed routes such as the “Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Scenic Cycling Route” and “Lovers’ Road Romantic Leisure Route”, making cycling a new way to deeply experience Zhuhai’s urban charm.