Tuesday October 23, 2012
Fauzan back in the groove after fine showing at Langkawi meet
By SHAMSHUL FITRI
PETALING JAYA: Cyclist Mohd Fauzan Ahmad Lutfi contemplated quitting after a disastrous outing in the Indonesia SEA Games last year.
But Fauzan has clearly put the dark episode behind as he went on to finish 15th out of 50 riders in the six-day stage of the recently-concluded Langkawi International Mountain Bike Challenge (LIMBC).
This year’s LIMBC attracted a host of mountain bike big names – like winner Fabian Giger (Switzerland), current cross-country marathon world No. 1 Stephen Thum (Germany) and Olympian Burry Stander (South Africa) – as the race embarked on its first year as a full UCI class two race.
Fauzan clearly revelled in the challenging routes the riders had to undertake this year, improving on his 20th placing last year.
“The course was really tough this year. The inclusion of so many top names made it even tougher than last year, I think,” said the 26-year-old who rode for Amaniz Cycling-PDRM.
“But it was fun in the end because I managed to improve on my standings and reach my target of finishing in the top 15.”
Despite competing in the event as part of his off-season road programme, Fauzan sees his result as a perfect stepping-stone towards preparing with the national team for the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) from Feb 20-March 2 next year.
“It was a good result for me ... though it could have been better. The long break for fasting and Hari Raya (July-August) meant it was back to basics for me,” said Fauzan, who is a lance-corporal with the Royal Malaysian Police.
“Luckily, my sponsor Amaniz Cycling managed to send me for a cross-country marathon World Cup race in Italy last month (Sept 8-9) to prepare for this race and I thank them for that.”
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