Azizul sprints to eighth in UCI Track Champs League

KUALA LUMPUR: National track cycling ace, Azizulhasni Awang concluded his campaign in the new UCI Track Champions League (TCL) in eighth place overall in the sprint category.

According to the competition official website, www.ucitrackchampionsleague. com, ‘The Pocket Rocketman’ garnered 60 points after five rounds while Australian rider, Matthew Richardson was crowned as the champion with 183 points.

Richardson outpaced his arch rival Harrie Lavreysen with a two-point winning margin after the Dutchman collected 181 points while Stefan Botticher of Germany took the third spot with 136 points.

In the final round, Azizulhasni fell short in his quest to at least taste a podium finish after he finished fifth in his pet event, the men’s keirin, yesterday.

Richardson came out tops in the final followed by Lavreysen and Botticher, who had to settle for a third place.

Meanwhile, the Dungun-born rider missed out the chance to feature in at least the semi-final of the men’s sprint event after he ended the first round of heat five race in second place behind the Colombian rider, Santiago Ramirez Morales.

Only the top rider from six different heats progresses to the semi-final.

The inaugural season which kicked off in Mallorca, Spain, last month, saw riders score points across five rounds in either the sprint or endurance category.

Each category has two different types of races in which competitors can accumulate points which saw sprinters race in both sprint and keirin while endurance riders took part in both elimination and scratch.

The league is Azizul’s fist series of races after he underwent an open heart surgery to correct a coronary artery anomaly in April.