KAMPAR: Terengganu’s Cycling Team’s (TSG) Nur Aiman Rosli made a strong start at Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) after claiming the white jersey as the best Asian rider following Stage 1 today.
The 27-year-old collected points at two sprint zones to top the standings after completing the 193-kilometre ride from Shah Alam to Kampar.
Aiman finished in a bunch sprint at 70th place out of 119 riders overall, recording a time of four hours, six minutes and 53 seconds.
He finished third in the first sprint zone in Ijok and won the second sprint zone in Kuala Selangor to earn bonus seconds, placing him at the top of the Asian rider standings with a cumulative time of 4:06:49.
Aisan Racing Team’s Hijiri Oda is second at 4:06:53, while Malaysia Pro Cycling’s Izzat Hilmi Abdul Jalil, who was the top local rider in the opening stage, finished third with the same time.
Aiman said his initial strategy was to join a breakaway to hunt for sprint points, but he had to change his approach at the third sprint zone in Teluk Intan after the gap to the front group widened.
“I planned to join a breakaway and managed to get points in two sprint zones.
“For the third zone in Teluk Intan, I could not continue because the front group was too far ahead.
“I had to ride smart to save energy for tomorrow’s race and focus on the next stage,” he said.
Stage 2 will see the peloton tackle a 145.6km route from Taiping to Gunung Jerai, which features a tougher climbing challenge.
Riders will navigate three sprint zones in Selama at the 41st kilometre, Padang Serai, and Aman Jaya, alongside two climb zones in Selama at the 53.6km mark and Gunung Jerai.
The Gunung Jerai climb has drawn attention as it is included in the LTdL route for the first time since the race was introduced in 1996. Aiman, a seven-time consecutive national champion, said he needs to manage his energy carefully for today’s climb.
“I need to save my legs because tomorrow’s stage has a fairly steep climb.
“It was a blessing to wear the Best Asian Rider Jersey. For tomorrow, we will have a different plan,” said Aiman.
He hopes his teammate Kee Zhe Yie can mount a strong challenge for the King of the Mountains jersey in Stage 2.
Zhe Yie is currently second in the King of the Mountains standings behind Petr Rikunov of Wheeltop Rotor Chengdu Team.
– NST
