Zahin clinches breakaway win for MPC at Tour of Luzon
Zahin won the 168 kilometre stage, which started in Clark and ended in Lingayen, in a time of three hours, 31 minutes and 12 seconds.
Local duo Mervin Corpuz (MPT Drive Hub) and Rench Michael Bondoc (7Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines) came in second and third in the sprint.
MPC team principal Sayuti Zahit said Zahin played his cards right and was rewarded with the win.
"Zahin joined a breakaway group of about 15 riders roughly 80km into the stage and the whole group worked together," said Sayuti, when contacted in Luzon today.
"Zahin launched his attack roughly 200m from the finish and was able to hold his position until the end.
"Alhamdulillah, this is a positive result for us in our first race of the season. Although this is not a UCI race, quite a number of strong teams are competing here.
"Tomorrow (stage seven) will be the team time trial and to be honest we are not expecting much as we have not brought our time trial bikes here.
"We will, however, be hoping to make an impact in the final stage (stage 8) on Thursday (May 1) which will feature a climb similar to Genting Highlands."
MPC had clinched their first podium finish of the tour during stage three on Saturday (April 26) through Ahmad Syazrin Awang Ilah who placed second.
The UCI continental squad have intentionally started their season slightly later than other teams in a bid to have their riders hit peak performance at Petronas Le Tour de Langkawi (Sept 28-Oct 5) and the Bangkok Sea Games (Dec 7-19). They are expected to race in China next month.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
MNCF on track for win-win solution with pro riders for SEA Games
PETALING JAYA: It could be a win-win situation for the parties concerned when the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) finalise their road cycling squad for the Thailand SEA Games next week. UCI continental squads Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG) and Malaysia Pro Cycling (MPC) made it clear last month that they will pull their riders from the national team if their requests for funding, which were not met by the National Sports Council (NSC) previously, are not fulfilled.
The Star
2 days ago
- The Star
Malaysia's second keirin spot for SEA Games up for grabs at Track Asia Cup
National track cyclist Muhammad Ridwan Sahrom (left) and Cyclist from China Qi Liu (right) in action during the Men Elite Sprint Category Final Heat 4 Race 3 at Asian Track Championship 2025 at the National Velodrome in Nilai, Negri Sembilan.— MUHAMAD SHAHRIL ROSLI/The Star PETALING JAYA: The cyclists' road to SEA Games glory starts at the Track Asia Cup in Suphanburi, Thailand next week. A keirin spot at the SEA Games in December is at stake for the riders when they compete at the Track Asia Cup as national track cycling team head coach Harnizam Basri is selecting the second rider to race the keirin. Harnizam will pick the second rider for the SEA Games based on their performances at the Asia Cup. The squad will leave for the Asia Cup, which is a UCI ranked Class 1 event, on Monday. Mohd Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri, who are the only cyclists under the Road to Gold programme, will not be competing at the Asia Cup though. "We have decided not to send Shah and Izzah as we want them to focus on preparations for the World Championships in Santiago, Chile (Oct 22-26)," said Harnizam. "We will be sending Mohd Fadhil Zonis, Mohd Ridwan Sahrom and Akmal Jusena Nazimi for the Asia Cup. "They will compete in the men's team sprint, keirin as well as the individual sprint events. "We will be choosing the second rider for the SEA Games keirin based on their performances at the Asia Cup, so they will have to compete with each other for that slot. It has to be earned on merit. "For the women's team, we have selected Anis Amira Rosidi, Nurul Aliana Syafika Azizan and Nur Alyssa Mohd Farid and they will compete in the same events as the men's in Suphanburi. "We want to gauge our performances in both the men's and women's team sprint events, especially as our men's team will be competing in the team sprint event at the SEA Games. "It will also be Aliana's first international competition since coming back. She has been doing well in training," added Harnizam. Aliana spent months recovering after suffering a fractured rib and concussion after crashing in a local race in October last year. Shah Firdaus has also been on the comeback trail as he has been battling tendonitis in his right knee since February but has shown improvement in recent months. The men's keirin and men's team sprint are the only sprint discipline events that have been included for the Thailand SEA Games this year. Malaysia though are hopeful of dominating the track cycling events, which offers five gold medals.
New Straits Times
2 days ago
- New Straits Times
Track trio to do battle for Sea Games keirin slot
KUALA LUMPUR: A keirin spot at the Sea Games will be at stake for national riders when they compete at the Track Asia Cup in Suphanburi, Thailand next week (Aug 28-30). National track cycling team head coach Harnizam Basri said he will be selecting the second rider for the keirin, who will race alongside Shah Firdaus Sahrom at the Thailand Sea Games (Dec 9-20), based on their performances at the Asia Cup. The squad will leave for the Asia Cup, which is a UCI class one event, on Monday (Aug 25). Harnizam, however, confirmed that top riders Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Izzah Izzati Asri will not be competing at the Asia Cup. "We have decided not to send Shah and Izzah as we want them to focus on preparations for the Santiago World Championships (Oct 22-26)," said Harnizam when contacted today (Aug 19). "We will be sending Fadhil Zonis, Ridwan Sahrom and Akmal Jusena for the Asia Cup. "They will compete in the men's team sprint, keirin as well as the individual sprint events. "We will be choosing the second rider for the Sea Games keirin based on their performances at the Asia Cup, so they will have to compete with each other for that slot. It has to be earned on merit. "For the women's team we have selected Anis Amira Rosidi, Aliana Azizan and Alyssa Farid and they will compete in the same events as the men's in Suphanburi. "We want to gauge our performances in both the men's and women's team sprint events, especially as our men's team will be competing in the team sprint event at the Sea Games. "It will also be Aliana's first international competition since coming back. She has been doing well in training." Aliana spent months recovering after suffering a fractured rib and concussion after crashing in a local race in October last year. Shah has also been on the comeback trail as he has been battling tendonitis in his right knee since February but has shown improvement in recent months. The men's keirin and men's team sprint are the only sprint discipline events that have been included for the Thailand Sea Games this year.
