Muhammad Raihaan Abd Aziz was Brunei's best finisher during the first race of the Langkawi International Mountain (MTB) Bike Challenge (LIMBC) after coming in 13th yesterday.

Three national cyclists faced a muddy challenge when they took on the 81km one-off marathon in the International Cycling Union (UCI) Marathon Series Race, with another national rider, Mohamad Nur Jamri Johari, coming in 18th in the event being held in Kedah, Malaysia.

Muhammad Rafiuddin Zikara did not complete the race after struggling with the terrain which had turned to slush after unexpected rain on the previous night.

The race is far from over for the national cyclists as they will also be taking part in the main race of the LIMBC, which is a total of 197.1km over five stages.

The riders are using the LIMBC as part of their preparation leading up to the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar.

Raihaan, who classes MTB as his main event, told The Brunei Times, "The course was really hard for me and it took me almost 30 minutes just to push my bike up the hill."

"It was really muddy and I found it tough... (but) it was definitely a good warm up for us though, and hopefully we will manage to finish with good results during the stage races," added Raihaan.

France's Thomas Dietsch rolled in first, Iran's Mardani Parviz finished in second followed by Steffen Thum from Germany.

The top 40 of the 88 racers score points from 1-40 to add to their points to qualify for the UCI Marathon World Championship in South Africa.

All three riders will take part in a 2.4km individual time trial tomorrow to challenge for the leader's jersey for a 65km Stage 1 journey.

Courtesy from Brunei Times