Riding on Rocketman again

Cyclist Azizulhasni Awang trained at the National Velodrome in Nilai.

PETALING JAYA: It’s something that veteran cyclist Azizulhasni Awang may have never expected when he agreed to make his comeback almost a year ago.

The absence of Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom has forced the 38-year-old two-time Olympic medallist to take up the gauntlet of leading Malaysia’s podium charge on the world stage again.

Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) president Datuk Amarjit Singh Gill has confirmed that Azizul, who turned 38 last month, will lead the team’s bid for glory in the major assignments this year.

“Azizul is going to ride for the national team at the first leg of the UCI Track World Cup series in Perth, Australia, from March 6-8,” said Amarjit after handing out incentives for the cyclists who won four gold medals at the recent Thailand SEA Games.

“He will not be going to Hong Kong for the second leg (April 17-19) as it is too close to the final leg at the National Velodrome in Nilai (April 24-26).

“But Azizul will be participating in national team colours in the Asian Championships in the Philippines from March 25 to 31.

“The competitions will be important for Malaysia as it offers ranking points towards qualification for the World Championships in China end of this year. The World Championships will be the start of the Los Angeles Olympic qualification campaign and we hope our cyclists will be well represented.

“Azizul’s main goal though is still the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games later this year.

“We don’t want to put too much pressure at this point as we did not expect him to be in the leading role due to the unfortunate long injury break Shah Firdaus is going through.

“But then you never know as Azizul never fails to give his best shot when he is committed to the cause, so anything is possible.’’

The Pocket Rocketman was coaxed out of retirement after taking almost a one- year-break after his Paris Olympics disappointment where he was disqualified from the keirin race.

The two-time Olympic medallist for keirin then announced his comeback in April last year as an independent rider and not under the National Sports Council programme.

Azizul has since made the podium in the last three competitions he took part in over the last three months.

Amarjit added that the MNCF are expecting 48 countries to participate in the Track World Cup meet in Nilai with almost 700 athletes and officials.

“There are only about two months left before the World Cup. This is a big event, not like the Asian Championships that we usually see with 20-22 countries. This involves almost 50 countries and the big names in cycling are expected to attend.

“Our cyclists are also focused on the Asian meet as this will give an indication of where we stand at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games later.”