LUMUT: Malaysian elite cyclists had shown their capabilities and performed remarkably at the ongoing Tour of Malaysia 2010 (JM2010) competition, said national coach William Walker.“It was their best performance thus far. We have eight or nine riders during the training camp in Ipoh in the last two months.
“In today’s race (the first stage), the top five riders were the national elite. (Mohd) Shahrul (Mat Amin) was extraordinary today and so was (Ahmad) Fallanie (Ali).
“They have shown tremendous improvement since the training camp,” said Walker yesterday.
He added that racing in an event like JM2010 needed the riders to think out their strategies.
“Especially in today’s stage, with a long distance race (192.4km), everybody seemed to get tired and automatically the best rider could do the attacking and win the race,” he added.
Walker noted that the training programme which he had worked out with Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) had shown early results.
“It was amazing to see some riders who, a few months ago, couldn’t train very well at all and now, they have shown their abilities,” he said.
Walker said his team had undergone intensive training since Jan 17 in Ipoh in their preparation for this year’s Le Tour de Langkawi in February.
Their training programmes continued at National Sports Council and some of the riders had represented Malaysia in the Tour of Thailand, Tour of Taiwan and Asian Championship in Dubai. — Bernama