Mei Yu Hsiao of Chinese Taipei bagged her third consecutive women's road race title after holding off the challenge from Chinese riders on the penultimate day of Hero Asian Cycling Championship here today.
The London Olympian, Mei Yu Hsiao, clinched the yellow metal by clocking two hours 38 mins 06 secs in the 99.4 km race at the Buddh International circuit here.
"I wasn't thinking of winning. I just gave my best. I had been training hard for the last six months for the meet and it has paid off now," Hsiao said.
Hsiao was not even among the first three riders until the eighth lap as Japanese Eri Yonamine and China's Xiaohui Liu looked all set to win gold but a late charge by the defending champion left others to do the catch up act as she zoomed past the finish line.
Xiaohui Liu and Na Zhao of China bagged the silver and the bronze respectively in the women's elite category in a photo finish -- only fractions separating the three riders.
India's Pana Choudhary finished with timings 2 hours 54 mins 27 secs, while Rutuja Satpute (three hours one mins 34 secs) was the last rider to cross the finish line.
Fours Indian women were part of the seven lap race which was started by 51 riders. 14 riders could not finish the race.
The men's U-23 category also saw a nerving-wrecking contest between riders from Iran, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan and Japan.
It was Iran's Ali Khademi (three hours 4 mins 18 secs) who prevailed over his fellow riders in the 142-km long pursuit and struck the first gold for his country in road races, while Nurbolat Kulimbetov and Vladislav Gurbunov of Kazakhstan finished at the second and third position respectively in a tight contest.
