EVER since Muhammad Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff started cycling 12 years ago, at age 13, he knew that was his calling. Before diving deep into his craft, he has done long distance running up to district level, but had to take a hiatus at state level when he met with an injury. “So I turned to cycling and felt like I’d found my niche. I love it,” expressed Aiman.
His first bike was a ‘fixie’ that was gifted by his family, who supported him every step of the way. “I rode from my village to the town three to four times a week. From there, I competed in fixie competitions in Terengganu in 2010 with state level riders, and there was where I met my first coach, Syed Hussein, and transitioned to road cycling.”
His coach gave him a road bike and he never looked back. It took Aiman six months to get fit and ready for competition before his first time representing his home state in a track event in Ipoh back in 2012.
“My coach supported and guided me from 2012 up until the Sukma games in Sarawak in 2016.”
In 2016, Aiman was 19 years old when he represented the Malaysia National team in Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) for two years before he joined Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG) during the 2017 season. That was also the year he represented Malaysia in the 2017 SEA Games track events.
From the year 2018 to 2020, he raced with Team Sapura, and his hard work paid off. He became the first ever Malaysian to win the LTdL Red jersey in 2020.
Just last year, he rejoined TSG and recently won first place in the 162KM Road Race SEA Games in Hanoi.
Before each race, the TSG cyclist prepares himself by relaxing his mind and calming himself down.
Cool, calm, collected, Aiman explains: “I would tell myself ‘whatever happens, just let it be, as long as I do the best I can’”.
Aiman doesn’t let his nerves get the better of him, and shot to the top in the SEA Games’s Road Race two weeks ago. “The feeling of stress and nervousness will always be there, especially for regional competitions such as SEA Games, where we carry the weight of the country on our shoulders, but I do my best to remain focused.”
Before the full lockdown all us Malaysians experienced in March 2020, Aiman only managed to race at 4 events before everything was shut down.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, it was really difficult mentally to keep myself motivated.” During that time, Aiman trained indoors with his trainer to stay in shape, but as SOPs eased, he finally got to train outdoors again.
“When I rejoined TSG in 2021, we managed to go overseas for racing, but it was difficult to maintain our performance with the mandatory quarantine rule still in place when we return to Malaysia,” explained Aiman. Even so, having his family and his team at the back of Aiman’s mind kept him going.
Aiman spoke about the impact of the important women in his life, his beloved mother and his wife, who pray for him and are his biggest supporters.
“My family have supported and invested in me since the beginning. They have always cared for me and check on me until today. I am so thankful for them.”
Even though road conditions were wet and rain was pouring from above, Aiman and his teammate had their head in the game.
“Winning the gold medal at the SEA Games wasn’t easy. It all goes down to team effort and I am very grateful that everything went smoothly throughout the race despite the weather.”
As they say, teamwork makes the dream work, and Aiman and his teammates stuck to the plan and everything worked out.
“Every team and rider that goes to the Games have prepared for it their own way. Personally, I’m lucky to be able to compete in numerous competitions with my team prior to the SEA Games.”
Aiman and his team have competed in races in Turkey, Rwanda, Thailand and Greece.
“It takes time to build up momentum physically and mentally so the earlier races were ideal for me to prepare for the Games.”
The gold medal SEA Games win was his best achievement as of yet. “I’m very proud of that and it was a huge relief for me to get first place after a number of difficulties I faced this year.”
In early April this year, Aiman failed to retain his purple jersey for Best ASEAN rider in the final stage during the Tour of Thailand. “It was disappointing, but the experience motivated me to improve and win at the SEA Games.”
Out of all the races that the 25-year-old cyclist has done, his favourite race is Petronas’ Le Tour de Langkawi.
“I’ve competed in five editions (2016 – 2020) and my proudest moment was winning the red jersey in 2020. Winning a high-level race in home ground will always be a wonderful feeling.”
The most challenging competition Aiman has faced was the Tour du Rwanda because of the route, terrain, the overall conditions, and high-altitude racing.
“I learned so much from this race. It’s tougher than any other races we’ve done but I took it as a challenge to grow into a better rider.
“What makes cycling different from other sports? For me, it’s the strategy and skills we build up through years of racing experience. Anyone can cycle, but not everyone can compete. Cycling came naturally to me and I give my 100% every time during training and competitions.”
Driven to succeed, Aiman’s love for cycling only grew with the challenges he faced. With each obstacles, it drove him to work harder to overcome them, and with each push, his love for the sport grew.
All of Aiman’s training sessions and competitions would total up to 22,000km of cycling. That’s almost 20 times the entire length of East Malaysia.
In five years’ time, Aiman wishes to compete in bigger competitions and grow more as a rider. “I’d like to eventually join the Asian Games, to qualify for the UCI Cycling World Championships, and then the Olympic Games. That would be the ultimate achievement for me.”
With his goals and big dreams in mind, the cyclist Aiman admires the most now is Julian Alaphilippe, a French professional road cyclist and reigning UCI World Road Champion.
“I love his racing style and he’s one of the best riders in the world,” says Aiman, with hopes of one day joining the big leagues.
In the same year Aiman started road racing in 2011, it was also same year that TSG started. Just like destiny, Aiman was inspired and saw a future for him to become a professional cyclist for a professional team. When he first started, his favourite cyclist was one of TSG’s former riders, Mohammad Saufi Mat Senan, for his all-rounded racing style, and look where Aiman is at now.
Perhaps one day, he’ll look back and see how far he’s come.
“My life motto is ‘never give up’. Whatever challenges comes, I will never give up trying and improving myself, and I will keep trying until I reach my goals.”
