Podium places

After over five hours of intense riding, a group of riders surged into view near the finish line in Zhuhai — their colorful jerseys drenched in sweat, pushing speeds of over 40 km/h.

At the front of the pack, several sprinters battled fiercely, teeth gritted, charging toward the finish line near the Zhuhai Museum.

After a nail-biting final sprint, Liu Zhicheng, who represented Shandong province, crossed the finish line first with a time of five hours, 17 minutes, and five seconds. He was followed by Beijing's Xue Chaohua and Yunnan province's Hu Haijie, with the podium places decided by mere centimeters.

Liu highlighted the unique challenge of the cross-boundary race. "The second half was run at a relentless pace, with no one holding back," Liu said at the post-race press conference. "It all came down to an extremely intense final sprint for position."

Liu said his team had prepared strategies to handle the crosswinds on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.

"But during the race, the crosswinds on the bridge weren't actually very strong. The main challenge was the headwind on the way out and the tailwind on the way back," Liu said, adding that support for the event was well-rounded.

"From technology to operations, the whole mechanism of the race has been tested and proven. The pioneering model paves the way for greater integration of sports, culture and tourism across the Greater Bay Area," Min, executive deputy director of the Zhuhai executive committee for the National Games, said.

Eric Chan Kwok-ki, chief secretary for administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, said at a news conference on Saturday that the event featured seamless real-time boundary crossings, with well-coordinated services and transportation at each checkpoint, fully showcasing the close cooperation among the governments of the Greater Bay Area.

Another cross-boundary event of the National Games, the marathon, will see athletes run across the Shenzhen Bay Bridge, connecting Shenzhen and Hong Kong, on Nov 15.