LANGKAWI: Terengganu Polygon Cycling Team (TSG) rider Muhammad Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff needs to be more careful or risk losing his red jersey (King of the Mountain) with one race to go in the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) tomorrow.
Muhammad Nur Aiman, who has donned the jersey since Stage 2 from Kuala Klawang to Raub, the change in the Stage 7 route today proved to be an added advantage for him to continue to maintain the dominance of the jersey.
The original route for Stage 7 was supposed to be from Kuah to the top of Gunung Raya but it was changed to the Kuah town loop due to weather conditions, in addition to floods and landslides in the original route yesterday.
“A relief for me too when the Gunung Raya route was changed and there is still a chance for me to retain the (red) jersey and maybe even win it. So, I just need to be more careful when it comes to collecting the points,” he told reporters.
Muhammad Nur Aiman is currently tied on 29 points with teammate Jambaljamts Sainbayar of Mongolia and they are closely followed by Movistar Team’s Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo, who has 25 points, in the King of the Mountain race.
“Sainbayar is now focused on the white jersey (Best Asian rider), so too is Sosa (who is the overall leader). So, my threat will be the riders from the United Kingdom (Hugh Carthy) and Australia (Carter Bettles) because they are not too far away in terms of points,” he said.
It’s clear that the 25-year-old Malaysian is expecting a more challenging race in the final stage of the LTdL, which will use the same route as today’s Stage 7.
“I am expecting a tougher challenge. In addition, they are very aggressive riders, so I have to be wary and keep close to them so that they will not overtake me in the race for the red jersey,” he said.
The eighth and final stage tomorrow, covering a distance of 115.9 kilometres (km), has three sprint and climb zones each. – Bernama
