TSG soar with Aiman’s breakaway boost in opener

LANGKAWI: It was an encouraging start for the local teams, particularly Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG), in the opening stage of the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) in Kuah yesterday.

The east coast outfit had two riders on the podium, with Nur Aiman Rosli (pic) taking the spotlight after clinching the white jersey as the best Asian and Malaysian rider.

His aggressive ride in Kuah also put him second in the general classification, just three seconds behind Italian sprinter Matteo Malucelli, who leads with a time of 2’00:12 while wearing the green jersey.

For Aiman, it was a positive start, and he credited his team’s race strategy, which worked well when he joined the early breakaway.

“Before the race, we had a team meeting and I was instructed to go for the breakaway. Alhamdulillah, I managed to do that, picked up bonus points and also finished first in two intermediate sprints. I hope to keep up the momentum in Stage Two.

“We raced in the rain today, just like last year, so I knew what to expect.

“We can definitely compete with the world’s elite riders, but we still need to work harder. For today’s (yesterday) race, I think they were still warming up, but once they get going, they’ll go full gas,” said Aiman.

Meanwhile, his teammate, seasoned sprinter Harrif Saleh, finished as the third-best Asian rider and was also named the best Asean rider – a new category introduced this year in conjunction with Malaysia’s hosting of the 47th Asean Summit.

To top it off, TSG were also named the best Asian team for the stage.

At the same time, Aiman hinted that he would adopt a more conservative approach in today’s second stage from Padang Besar to Kepala Batas, saying he would not be as aggressive as he was yesterday in order to save energy for Stage Three tomorrow.

The 198.2km route from Gerik to Pasir Puteh is regarded as one of the toughest in this year’s race, featuring three categorised climbs in Gerik, Sri Banding and the most challenging section at Puncak Titiwangsa, which reaches an elevation of 1,056m.

“I can’t get too excited yet because I need to save my energy for stage three, and hopefully I can have a good race there,” he added.