All set to ride again

Azizul to compete in Track World Cup in Poland after three-week break

PETALING JAYA: World keirin champion Azizulhasni Awang will return to action after a three-month break bent on earning ranking points for the country at the UCI Track World Cup in Pruszkow, Poland, this weekend.

Azizul, who last raced to double glory at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games in August, leads a four-member strong Malaysian team for the first two legs in Pruszkow and Manchester, England, next week.

The 29-year-old will wear the rainbow jersey awarded to him for bagging the keirin gold for Malaysia at the World Track Cycling Championships in Hong Kong in March.

“Super excited to be back at the venue where I won my first World Championships medal back in 2009.

“I got the silver in the sprint final after losing by just micrometres to Gregory Bauge of France,” said Azizul.

The top Malaysian cyclist will not be under pressure to deliver in the World Cup meets in Pruszkow and Manchester.

“I’m only taking part in the first two Track World Cups as I have enough points to qualify for the World Championships in Holland next February.

“My mission is to do well in the World Championships, Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and also the Jakarta Asian Games. So, the Track World Cups will just be to gauge how the others are doing,” said Azizul, who came out tops in keirin and sprint at the KL SEA Games.

Azizul and KL SEA Games four-gold medal- list Fatehah Mustapa (pic) will represent CIMB Pro Cycling Team while Muhd Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Farina Shawati Mohd Adnan will ride for the Sime Darby Foundation.

Shah Firdaus made heads turn by winning a bronze in keirin at the final leg of the Track World Cup in Los Angeles, US, in February and will be out for a repeat performance.

Besides Pruszkow and Manchester, the other legs of the Track World Cup series are in Milton, Canada (Dec 2-3); Santiago, Chile (Dec 9-10); and Minsk, Belarus (Jan 19-21, 2018).