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KUALA LUMPUR: It is his fifth year with the first professional team from China, Marco Polo Cycling Team, Loh Sea Keong wishes that his participation in Jelajah Malaysia (JM) 2009 will contribute to the team’s victory.
The rider who hails from Kuala Krai, Kelantan said that after being injured during the event in Giro del Capo, South Africa last 3rd – 8th March, he just got back in training on his own.
"It was not critical as it was just a few scratches on my face and hands, but I had to take a week off before resume my training. In the upcoming JM, I will be the work horse for Ahmad Haidar who will give his all to win in the sprint zones."
Apart from Sea Keong, the team will feature the debut of another local rider, Ahmad Haidar Anuawar who will also be riding together with Genta Nakamura (Japan), James Spragg (Britain), Eric Van de Meent (Holland) and Xing Yan Dong (China).
The 23-year old rider said that during the climb zones, he will be backing-up for Van de Meent and Spragg who are the climb experts of the team to shine in the climb zones,
He also said by tomorrow the team will be participating in the Tour of Thailand and will be in Malaysia by the 17th April, two days before JM 2009 kicks off.
"It is a common practice for us to train individually until we get the call to attend the training camp. By then we train together and so far the end-result has been satisfactory. Even Ahmad Haidar and I, we are not training together as he trains in Kuantan, Pahang while I in Kuala Lumpur," he added.
When asked about Ten Speed Events Sdn Bhd third year organizing JM, Sea Keong personally prefers the event to be maintained a 2.2 categorization in the near future regardless the fact that International Cycling Union (UCI) has offered an upgrade.
"I am not simply saying this just for the sake of it but we can see that an event of this category provides the platform for the local riders to be better competitors and make their marks. What matters most is that the event holds an important stake in the development of cycling locally and I can see that the organizing of JM has always been good and improving from time to time thus it should continue in the near future," he commented.
He said that teams such as Iran’s Azad University Continental Team and Tabriz Petrochemical Team and also Savings & Loan Cycling Team (Australia) will be their biggest competitors in the upcoming JM.
He also said that the participations of five teams from Malaysia; Malaysian National Team, MNCF Continental Team, Armed Forces (ATM), Terengganu and LeTua will pose a threat to other teams including Marco Polo.
Executive Chairman Datuk Astaman Abdul Aziz stated that Sea Keong is among the young local talents who maintains and perform well with teams abroad.
"Last year, Marco Polo’s rider, Li Fu Yu kept the red jersey (overall winner) in the first three stages, who knows this year it might be one of the local talents who ride for the team to keep the jersey," he added.
Jelajah Malaysia 2009 organized by Ten Speed Events Sdn Bhd will feature an eight-stage race starting from Kuala Selangor to Ipoh, stage 2 (Ipoh - Sungai Petani), stage 3 (Gerik - Tanah Merah), stage 4 (Pasir Mas - Kuala Terengganu), stage 5 (Kuala Terengganu - Kuantan), stage 6 (Kuantan - Bera), peringkat tujuh (Tanjung Malim-Genting) and will end in stage 8 of criterium race in Dataran Merdeka.
The rider who hails from Kuala Krai, Kelantan said that after being injured during the event in Giro del Capo, South Africa last 3rd – 8th March, he just got back in training on his own.
"It was not critical as it was just a few scratches on my face and hands, but I had to take a week off before resume my training. In the upcoming JM, I will be the work horse for Ahmad Haidar who will give his all to win in the sprint zones."
Apart from Sea Keong, the team will feature the debut of another local rider, Ahmad Haidar Anuawar who will also be riding together with Genta Nakamura (Japan), James Spragg (Britain), Eric Van de Meent (Holland) and Xing Yan Dong (China).
The 23-year old rider said that during the climb zones, he will be backing-up for Van de Meent and Spragg who are the climb experts of the team to shine in the climb zones,
He also said by tomorrow the team will be participating in the Tour of Thailand and will be in Malaysia by the 17th April, two days before JM 2009 kicks off.
"It is a common practice for us to train individually until we get the call to attend the training camp. By then we train together and so far the end-result has been satisfactory. Even Ahmad Haidar and I, we are not training together as he trains in Kuantan, Pahang while I in Kuala Lumpur," he added.
When asked about Ten Speed Events Sdn Bhd third year organizing JM, Sea Keong personally prefers the event to be maintained a 2.2 categorization in the near future regardless the fact that International Cycling Union (UCI) has offered an upgrade.
"I am not simply saying this just for the sake of it but we can see that an event of this category provides the platform for the local riders to be better competitors and make their marks. What matters most is that the event holds an important stake in the development of cycling locally and I can see that the organizing of JM has always been good and improving from time to time thus it should continue in the near future," he commented.
He said that teams such as Iran’s Azad University Continental Team and Tabriz Petrochemical Team and also Savings & Loan Cycling Team (Australia) will be their biggest competitors in the upcoming JM.
He also said that the participations of five teams from Malaysia; Malaysian National Team, MNCF Continental Team, Armed Forces (ATM), Terengganu and LeTua will pose a threat to other teams including Marco Polo.
Executive Chairman Datuk Astaman Abdul Aziz stated that Sea Keong is among the young local talents who maintains and perform well with teams abroad.
"Last year, Marco Polo’s rider, Li Fu Yu kept the red jersey (overall winner) in the first three stages, who knows this year it might be one of the local talents who ride for the team to keep the jersey," he added.
Jelajah Malaysia 2009 organized by Ten Speed Events Sdn Bhd will feature an eight-stage race starting from Kuala Selangor to Ipoh, stage 2 (Ipoh - Sungai Petani), stage 3 (Gerik - Tanah Merah), stage 4 (Pasir Mas - Kuala Terengganu), stage 5 (Kuala Terengganu - Kuantan), stage 6 (Kuantan - Bera), peringkat tujuh (Tanjung Malim-Genting) and will end in stage 8 of criterium race in Dataran Merdeka.
