KUALA LUMPUR: The fighting spirit and the ability of the national riders to compete with the WorldTeam and Proteam teams at Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) 2023 should be fully tapped to create more opportunities for them to continue riding in the future, according to national cycling head coach Mohd Yusof Nasir.
He said the National Sports Council (NSC) and Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) should ensure that the potential of the riders would not go to waste.
“I will discuss with NSC and MNCF to work on something for them. I don’t want a repeat of last year when we formed a team just for LTdL and there was no follow-up after that.
“This year alone, we won the title of Best Asian Rider thrice. I want to highlight this to them so that they can see how good these riders are,” he told reporters at the end of the LTdL 2023 race at the Petronas Twin Towers (KLCC) here on Saturday.
His squad, which comprised former Team Sapura Cycling (TSC) riders Mohamad Izzat Hilmi Abdul Halil, Muhsin Al Redha Misbah, Muhammad Nur Aiman Rosli and Muhammad Zawawi Azman, and two other talented riders, Muhammad Shaiful Adlan and Zulhelmi Zainal, gave a good account of themselves throughout the eight-stage race covering 1,278.1 kilometres (km).
In the First Stage of LTdL 2023 from Kerteh to Kuala Terengganu last week, Yusof’s cyclists proved they were not there just for the ride.
Izzat Hilmi finished the 187.4km race in fourth place and helped put Malaysia as the best Asian team for that stage.
He again showed his prowess by finishing fifth in Stage Eight on Saturday.
Nur Aiman finished the 183.1km Third Stage from Jeli to Baling in sixth place, grabbing the White Jersey as Best Asian Rider.
Yusof is also open to the idea of his riders accepting offers from ProTeam squads as long as it is good for their career development. – BERNAMA
