Singapore's cyclists may not have struck gold at the SEA Games earlier this month, but Singapore Cycling Federation (SCF) president Hing Siong Chen stressed there were plenty of positives to take away from their performances.
Unlike the 2017 edition in Kuala Lumpur where the Republic's Calvin Sim triumphed in the men's omnium event, the recent Games in the Philippines excluded track cycling and featured BMX, mountain and road cycling events.
The latter is not a category in which Singapore typically excels but the squad still returned home with some medals. Goh Choon Huat bagged two bronzes (men's individual mass start road race and time trial) while Luo Yiwei was second in the women's time trial and just four seconds slower than home rider Jermyn Prado's winning-time of 44mins 44.742sec.
These results indicated to Hing that Singapore were moving in the right direction with the region's best. He said: "There are so many variables in the road race and time trials, so to be competitive and to fight for the medal at the end shows that you're there already.
"People now see us and think we're a threat unlike in the past."
Luo, who clinched a silver in the women's omnium in 2017, added: "Cycling in Singapore is a growing sport and it's encouraging that we are getting results at a high-performance level. The medals actually mean something."
Goh's two bronzes meant he was the first Singaporean in over 30 years to claim podium finishes in two individual road cycling events, an impressive feat considering the men's road race had 38 competitors.
The 29-year-old said: "It meant a lot for me and the whole cycling community because it's finally a breakthrough for Singapore.
"We've waited for this for quite a long time and it's a good thing that we did it with good teamwork. It really proved that as a small nation, we can always surprise anybody."
Training with his professional outfit Terengganu Cycling Team for the past five years has been crucial to his development. Besides racing in about 60 events in the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Asia Tour, Goh is teammates with several riders who have competed in the top-tier UCI World Tour.
This is a route Hing believes is ideal for his cyclists and the sport to continue producing results.
Currently, those who are not full-time riders compete in only three or four races a year.
SCF hopes to launch a professional continental men's road cycling team next year, with the hope of getting two full-time riders first before expanding it to a team of five over the next four years.
A velodrome is expected to be built as part of the new Kallang Alive precinct and would serve as the national training centre for track cycling, a prospect which Hing is understandably enthusiastic about.
With its target of winning a medal in road cycling at the 2026 Asian Games, the federation will also focus on youth development through its SCF Academy and school outreach programmes.
Hing said: "This shows us that if we can already achieve something with what we have at the moment, our future will be even brighter if we're on the same level playing field as our neighbours, who have that continental team and all have those pathways."
