Harrif and company gunning for glory on the road

CYCLIST Harrif Saleh is the man primed to make a charge for the criterium gold medal in the road event starting today.

The event takes place in Hoa Binh, located roughly 100km from Hanoi and the Terengganu Polygon Cycling Team (TSG) rider, however, will have fellow TSG teammates Nur Aiman Zariff and Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki for support.

Team manager Firdaus Arshad added that the organisers have prepared a tricky route.

“They have selected a 1.5km loop for the criterium, which is flat and very fast, so we can expect some very fast average times,” said Firdaus.

“The layout of the loop is square instead of the usual narrow and twisty circuits which are tight and technical.

“We are strong in these technical circuits so having the course being a straight-forward square takes away some of our advantages because the sprint finish will be wide open. Also, only three riders are allowed compared to five. “Aiman and Amirull will play an important role for Harrif in the sprint (lead out). “Amirull can also sprint so we have a back-up in case anything goes wrong with Harrif,” he said, adding that all three cyclists are fit and free of any injuries.

Harrif bagged two golds at Singapore 2015 SEA Games in the criterium and road race and two years later in Kuala Lumpur he again won the criterium. Malaysia will be represented by Nur Aisyah Mohamad Zubir, Siti Nur Alia Mansor and either Jupha Somnet or Nur Aisyah Munirah Chek Ramli in the women’s category.

“The mountain bike team’s win has certainly motivated the whole road team to also do well,” added Firdaus.

The national mountain bike squad of Ahmad Syazrin Awang Ilah, Zulfikri Zulkifli, Nur Assyira Zainal Abidin and Natahsya Soon delivered a historic gold medal for the nation in the cross country relay mixed team event on Tuesday.