Muhammad Raihaan (pic, left), who on Saturday bagged the 32km individual time trial crown, led the charge of local riders in the 145km individual road race yesterday. The Bruneian riders finished in the top six positions.
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
MUHAMMAD Raihaan Abd Aziz made it a double in the 2010 Pehin Dato Awang Hj Yahya National Open Cycling Championship after winning yesterday’s 145km individual road race to add to the 32km individual time trial crown he captured on Saturday.
Clocking 3:39:06.24, Muhammad Raihaan led the charge of local riders who finished in the top six positions.
His teammate to next month’s Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Melaka, Abdul Hadrie Morsidi, crossed the line four minutes later at 3:43:19.08 while national elite rider Mohd Nurhaimin Awang came in third at 3:43:19.44.
The event which started at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas saw 51 cyclists make the journey to Bukit Beruang in Tutong and back again.
The Selangor and Sarawak Sukma squads also competed in the tournament.
Breaking away from a pack of 11 cyclists in the last 20 kilometres which was around The Empire Hotel & Country Club in Jerudong Muhammad Raihaan used the skills he honed competing in time trials to win the race.
“I was confident at that time because I had a good gap … During time trials I am used to cycling at high speed over 40km, so doing it over 20km was easy,” he said.
“If you look at the criterium event on Saturday, Selangor were strong (finishing first and third) so I was not always confident I could win the road race. My main event is cross country but since coach Yafiz’s (national cycling coach Yafiz Jamaludin) specialty is road races, he helped train me in that, and that’s why I won.
“I want to thank my teammates because they helped me out a lot in terms of strategy, blocking and holding the peloton, and controlling the pack. I also want to thank my employers, the Department of Mosque Affairs, for releasing me from work and letting me train (for Sukma),” added the 22-year-old cyclist.
This year’s edition of Sukma from June 10-19 will be Muhammad Raihaan’s third time competing, making his return to the tournament after six years.
An eight-year veteran of the national team, his first international outing was during the 2002 Sukma in Sabah.
He also competed in the 2004 edition in Negri Sembilan.
Despite his joy in being crowned champion twice in last weekend’s tournament, he insisted the pair of wins would not ease the memory of his disappointing results during the three international competitions he competed in last month.
Muhammad Raihaan failed to cross the line in the individual road race during the17th Asian Junior Cycling Championship in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, and technical problems put a stop to his 2010 Melaka Governor Cup and Jelajah Malaysia campaigns.
“That was overseas, this is local. It doesn’t make up for it.”
According to Yafiz, Muhammad Raihaan, three other national cyclists, and Selangor’s Hamdan Hamidun who won the criterium broke away from the pack after 20km.
That was how it would stay until the last 30km, when two Sarawak riders and four Bruneians caught up to make for a total of 11 leading the field.
After surges by individual cyclists, Muhammad Raihan made his move in the last 20km and maintained his pace until the finish.
In the last three kilometres, three Bruneians broke away from the group of 10 cyclists to ensure the Sultanate would occupy all podium positions.
In fourth place was elite cyclist Md Arbe Shadatul Farrani Zainul Arrifin (3:43:19.55) while Sukma cyclist Muhammad Rafiuddin Zakaria came in fifth at 3:43:57.33.
Like Muhammad Raihaan, Md Arbe competed in all three international events the country has sent riders to this year.
Second in the criterium, Muhammad Rafiuddin only competed in the 2010 Melaka Governor Cup and Jelajah Malaysia.
Rounding off the field of the top six was one of the country’s elite cyclists, Suhaimi Siba.
Yafiz believed that the country’s strong finish yesterday made up for their poor showing in the criterium the day before.
In the criterium, Hamdan and Muhammad Rafiuddin were followed by Selangor’s Sarham Miswan in the top three. Positions four through to 11 were filled by Bruneians, but Yafiz was not satisfied.
“We should have won the criterium but the cyclists made mistakes and they also don’t fully understand the point system yet,” he said.
“Today’s (Sunday) performance was much better. They really went all out. They are getting smarter and know when to break away now,” added the ex-national and state cyclist for Malaysia and Selangor.
The winner of each of the three races received $300, with the runner-up and second runner-up receiving $200 and $150 respectively. The fourth and fifth cyclists returned with $100 and $50.
Hj Mohamad Hj Abd Rahman, the acting deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, was the guest of honour at the prize giving ceremony.
The Brunei Times
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