Anis tipped to be future star of women’s cycling.
Young female cyclist set for first UCI Track World Cup
PETALING JAYA: Anis Amira Rosidi is going places.
The 20-year-old has received the nod from cycling head coach John Beasley to compete in her first UCI Track World Cup campaign.
Malaysia earned a slot for the women’s elite individual sprint and keirin events for the 20192020 season.
The season kicks off with the first of six legs in Minsk, Belarus, from Nov 1-3.
The other legs are in Glasgow, Scotland (Nov 8-11), Hong Kong (Nov 29-Dec 1), Cambridge, New Zealand (Dec 6-8), Brisbane, Australia (Dec 13-15) and Milton, Canada (Jan 24-26).
The Perlis lass is the only woman among the track cyclists training under Beasley in Melbourne, Australia.
And Beasley sees her as a future star for Malaysia.
Recently, Anis won two UCI Track World Cup keirin races in China and Taiwan.
“The World Cup is the second phase of the qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics, so it’s going to be a very competitive season ahead.
“She is going to do the first few legs and Fatehah Mustapa may step in for the later events.
“Unfortunately, we are not going to have any woman cyclist making it to the Games next year but the experience will be good for her as she is our hope for the future.
“We have a long-term goal for Anis.
“We want her to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics and, believe me, she will make it.
“I expect her to develop into a really good rider in the next four years,” added the Australian.
Anis can’t wait to compete at the World Cup but she is not setting any targets.
“I’m still learning every day. Physically, I still have a lot to improve on to match the foreign riders but I’m willing to go through the process.
“But I hope I can be as good as Fatehah one day,” said Anis, who was a former runner before switching to track cycling.
Malaysia also earned two men’s elite slots for the individual sprint and one for keirin.
Beasley has entered Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Mohd Fadhil Zonis in the sprint and keirin in Belarus.
Azizulhasni Awang will give the opener a miss but is expected to race at the other legs.
“I’m not worried about Azizul as he already has enough points to qualify for the keirin at the Olympics.
“He will only go for a few races as we want to give Shah Firdaus a chance to move up the world rankings,” added Beasley.
Azizul is currently ranked second in the world in keirin while Shah Firdaus is in 22nd spot.