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NEWS & EVENTS
Bruneians ride into final stage
Saturday, October 5, 2013

The national cyclists are through to the final stage of the Langkawi International Mountain Bike Challenge (LIMBC) in Malaysia yesterday.

According to national cycling coach Yafiz Jamaludin, his charges Muhammad Raihaan Abd Aziz, Mohd Nurjamri Johari and Muhammad Rafiuddin Zikara managed to finish in the time limit and met the minimum requirements to move on to the final stage of the five-day competition.

However, the official results couldn't be obtained as of press time.

Yafiz was not exactly satisfied with the standings but is taking the positives out of the race.

"For me the results are not really good but it is good for me to find out their weaknesses. So now I can focus on working on those weaknesses in preparations for the SEA (Southeast Asian) Games," said Yafiz in an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday.

"I just hope that all of them can finish the last stage to complete the race tomorrow (Saturday).

"Hopefully they will be able to show their best performance. It is difficult to finish in the top-10 because there are many pro riders in the competition," he added.

"I was hoping that we could at least finish in the top-25 to gain UCI (International Cycling Union) points for world ranking but now it is difficult since only one stage left," continued the Malaysian.

Raihaan had started off the penultimate stage as Brunei's best performer with a total time of 9:43:25 to place 30th overall.

Nurjamri had completed Stage 3 in 49th with a time of 4:45:34. It brought his total time of 10:31:30 to place 52nd.

Last but not least, Rafiuddin finished the third stage with a time of 5:18:04 to see him four spots further on the general classification with a time of 10:51:11.

Luck was not on Raihaan's side yesterday as he suffered a crash to see him drop down to 39th overall.

He knows what to expect from the last stage, a 1.6-kilometre circuit with timeframe of 30 minutes, and is hoping to produce the best.

"It should be a fast race tomorrow because it is short and flat. Hopefully we can keep up with the pros speed," said Raihaan.

"As for positioning, beating other Southeast Asian riders is okay for me and finishing in the top-10 would be a bonus because most of those high up in the rankings are world ranked riders," he added.

Meanwhile, Frenchman Maxim Marotte of BH Brsuntour KMC Team won the 32.2km Stage 4 with a time of 1:37:53 to pip his teammate and compatriot Stephane Tempier.

The latter came in with a time of 1:38:33 followed by Swedish Emil Lindgren of Giant Pro XT Team in third with a time of 1:39:50.

Over in the women's category, Italian Eva Lechner of Colnaho Sudtirol Team won the stage after crossing the line with a time of 1:20:48.

Maja Wloszczowska of Giant Pro XC Team was second on 1:22:09 followed by American Lea Davison of Specialized Factory Facing Team on 1:23:27.

Courtesy from Brunei Times