Mirza’s golden strike warms the hearts of UAE fans
COACH BADR HOPES BROTHER CAN SUSTAIN MOMENTUM TILL 2018 ASIAD
he UAE’s cycling coach is hoping continental champion Yousuf Mirza can sustain his form heading towards the Jakarta Asian Games, to be held later this year.
Mirza was an important member of UAE Team Emirates during last week’s Dubai Tour after which he travelled to Myanmar to represent the UAE at the 38th Asian Cycling Championships that concluded yesterday along with the 25th Asian Junior Cycling Championships and the seventh Asian Para-Cycling Championships in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.
Participating in the 176km road race for elite men, Mirza beat off competition from Japan’s Fumiyuki Beppu and Iran’s Mehdi Sohrabi to win his first gold at the continental level. His previous best was a silver medal he won in 2015 to earn the right to become the first rider to represent the country at an Olympic Games in Rio 2016.
“Hopefully, Yousuf can maintain this momentum over the next few months moving towards an important event like the Asian Games,” coach and elder brother Badr Mirza told Gulf News from Myanmar.
“This gold medal is historical in the cycling history of the UAE and now that he has scaled one barrier, I expect him to sustain his form and target a firstever gold at the Asian Games as well,” he added.
A four-member cycling squad had departed to Myanmar with Badr as coach even when the Dubai Tour was on. Yousuf joined the UAE squad in the early hours of Sunday after being part of the breakaway during the fifth and final stage of the Dubai Tour on Saturday. “Whatever rest he got was on flight as he was on his bike first thing on landing in Myanmar. I advised him to take it easy and Ireland’s Dan Martin will make his UAE Team Emirates debut in Portugal at the Volta ao Algarve from February 14-18.
Also making his team debut will be Australian Rory Sutherland, who will use his 15 years of experience to support Martin in his quest for the yellow jersey. Martin, a former Tour de France stage winner, will compete in southern Portugal alongside teammates; Ben Swift, Jan Polanc, Vegard Stake Laengen, Valerio Conti and Edward Ravasi.
“I have a mixture of nerves and excitement going in to Volta ao Algarve,” said Martin. “There is always anxiety to get back to racing and find out where the fitness levels are, but I feel good and have trained well over the winter months, but racing is, of course, always different.
“It’s exciting to finally pin a number on the UAE Team Emirates jersey and start racing with a great group of guys. It will take time to learn how to race well together, but we have already completed two nice training camps where we have got to know each other.”
The Volta ao Algarve is a five-stage race, that sees riders tackle a mixture of flat and mountainous terrain, plus one time trial stage with competition for a jersey being extremely open and competitive.
Stage one of the tour favours the sprinters. Stage two, with five climbs is most testing, Stage three will see riders tackle a 20-km individual time trial before moving on to a mammoth 199-km stage four.
The climb specialists and jersey contenders will see the final stage as the perfect opportunity to gain those vital seconds on their opposition, with another ascent finish in the town of Malhao. pay more attention to the mental part of this hard race with some of the top Asian riders in the fray,” Badr said.
Mohammad Al Mansouri, Jaber Al Mansouri and Mohammad Murawwi gave the best support to their teammate as the UAE rider finished with a time of 3 hours, 50.32 minutes ahead of Beppu and Sohrabi. “When we first raced together for the UAE at the 2008 Asian Championships [in Japan], I dropped out with mechanical problems while Yousuf couldn’t even complete the race. Ten years down the line he stands as the best cyclist in Asia. All this comes down to his commitment and determination,” Badr complimented.
Form must be retained
“He can only get better from now on. But this can happen only if he continues to retain his form over the next few months. I am confident he can keep it as he is within a professional set-up like UAE Team Emirates. This is his big chance, and what we started so many years back can now be pursued in earnest as we target the next big goal for UAE cycling,” he added.
Mirza has not been named on the UAE Team Emirates squad participating in this week’s Tour of Oman, but there is a likelihood he will feature in the Abu Dhabi Tour starting on February 21.