Azizul and Shah tackle new positions.
Tokyo-bound Azizul and Shah try out new style astride new bike
Habits are hard to break but cyclist Azizulhasni Awang has had to “bend over forward” to develop a new style before he goes in for his biggest challenge yet in Tokyo.
Azizul is changing his riding position to complement the enhanced specs of the WXR Vorteq bike he will use for the Tokyo Olympics competition next year. He has had to discard his usual leaning forward position to go into crouching position to add to the aerodynamics.
Azizul and teammate Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom will represent Malaysia in the Olympic track cycling competition at Izu Velodrome from Aug 2-8.
Azizul will become the first Malaysian cyclist to make a fourth Olympic appearance while Shah Firdaus will be making his debut.
Track cycling coach John
Beasley said to be on top of the game on the world stage, it was all about finding marginal gains. The new riding position will give Azizul that.
The Malaysian track cycling squad have been working in collaboration with Vorteq, a research and development company based in Silverstone and specialising in sports aerodynamics, to build the WXR Vorteq bikes, which cost RM300,000 each.
The duo will be using the enhanced specs in Tokyo and coach Beasley is hoping it will pay off with them bringing home the first Olympic gold medal for the nation.
“The British, the Germans, the Dutch and the Japanese are also building bikes and finding improvements in every areas.
“We held back some things during the world championships (in Berlin) early this year. I want to have that psychological advantage for our athletes so that they know that there is more to come.”
Both Azizul and Shah Firdaus notched personal best times in Berlin in March. Shah Firdaus was first to equal the Asian record of 9.609 and smash Azizul’s national record of 9.760 in the sprint qualifying.
But that did not last long as Azizul posted a sizzling lap of 9.548 moments later.
Azizul, who came third in keirin, went on to take a second bronze medal – his second world championships medal in sprint in his career.
He first claimed silver in the sprint back in 2009 in Poland.
“We are totally honest with them (the cyclists) and they know that when they push, there will be significant gains in the total package to come,” said Beasley.
“Believe it or not, a big gain comes from changing their riding position to suit the bike. It was easy to find but hard to train (get it right).
“We train the athletes to ride in the most aerodynamic position. Once you add the extra power from the physical work we have been doing, I believe we will be in the mix.
“It’s still work in progress and we are making adjustments to the programme as we go along,” said Beasley, who guided Azizul to a historic world keirin title in 2017.