KUCHING: State and local riders have to improve themselves threefold to justify the need for a major international cycling event to be hosted in Sarawak.
WOMEN POWER: Participants of the Women Open of the Malaysia National Cycling Grand Prix 2010 (Road Race) warming up before the race yesterday.
“There is no point in having a race here if our local riders are not up to the mark,” said Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, president of the Sarawak Cycling Association.
Karim was commenting on the suggestion made by Mohamad Salleh, CEO of the La Tour de Langkawi to bring the international event here.
“We however sincerely hope that one day, an event of such magnitude can be held here. This can be a reality as Sarawak is more or less already linked by roads,” said Karim who have yet to identify the race routes proper.
Early suggestion includes that the event take on major and challenging routes from Kuching to Miri and pass through Brunei Darussalam to the finishing line at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
“Presently, if we organise such events here, there is a lot of angles to be looked into such as logistics and accommodation. This will take a lot of extra costs as compared to holding it in Semenanjung Malaysia,” he added.
This is also true at the end of the spectrum for Sarawakians who travels to Semenanjung Malaysia for races.
“The accommodation, transportation and food costs for our riders who travel for races in Semenanjung are indeed hefty. If there are two or three races in the other states, this absorbs our entire budget,” lamented Karim.
Le Tour de Langkawi in Borneo? He also said that the annual grant of RM18,000 is small giving the association no other options but to tap into other corporate or personal sponsors to develop the sport as much as possible in Sarawak.
“So far we are not really looking into producing excellent riders hitting the world stage, but more towards development especially at the grassroots level,” said Karim.
He also adds that Sarawakian riders who shone in the Sukma games stands a bigger chance to be roped into the Bukit Jalil Sports School or the Bandar Bukit Penawar Sports School for their next step in the cycling arena.
“Once they are roped into these sports school, only then it would justify why we need to approach the Malaysian National Cycling Federation for sponsors to take part in exposure trips,” informed Karim.
He was however happy to note that cycling is quickly gaining popularity in Sarawak with the mushrooming of cyclist from several age groups taking their own initiative to organise convoys for their own leisure needs.
To spur the interest further, Karim suggested that district offices such as in Bintulu and Sibu to step up the plate and organise a local competition in their districts.
“We have at least five races in Kuching annually be it the criterium races or the mountain bike race,” said Karim.
Meanwhile, State and national cyclist Junaidah Juss finished second in the Women Open of the Malaysia National Cycling Grand Prix 2010 (Road Race) yesterday.
Covering a distance of 20.4Km starting from Masja, the participants rode past the Zecon toll, Bintawa roundabout, Balai Polis Bintawa, Bintawa barrage, Bako barrage, Jalan Demak, Sesco roundabout and back to Masja for the finishing line.
Clocking a time of 3:38.40seconds in six laps,Junaidah’s was behind Kedah’s and national rider, Masziyaton Radzi who clocked 3:35.01seconds to secure her place at the top of the women’s GP standings.
In the Men Open category, Rauf Nur Misbah from Selangor took the first place with a time of 4:38.33seconds in nine laps.
Organised by the Malaysian National Cycling Federation, the circuit kicked off in Negeri Sembilan and proceeded to the second leg in Kedah then Terengganu in July.
Their next pit stop after Kuching would be the fifth leg which is to be held in Selangor and will reach its climax in Melaka for the grand finale in December.
Teams taking part in this circuit are Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Selangor, Malaysian Sports Councill, Letua Cycling team, Terengganu, Kedah, Johor, Sarawak, Angkatan Tentera Malaysia, Brunei TelBru.
Kuching was also represented by Arif Cycling, Klover Polygon and Skallor.