CYCLING: Team at a disadvantage

TOUR OF IRAN: Visa problems force Terengganu Cycling Team to race with four riders

THE Terengganu Cycling Team face a gruelling stage race with just four riders after visa problems hit them even before they leave for the Tour of Iran today.

Coach Sebastien Duclos will have to rely on the quartet of Harrif Saleh, Zamri Saleh, Nor Umardi Rosdi and Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Marzuki to start the six-stage race on Wednesday.

Saiful Anuar Abdul Aziz had his visa application rejected by the Iranian embassy in Kuala Lumpur, forcing the team to start a race at a disadvantage for the second time this season.

Duclos will, however, be counting on his charges to rise to the occasion as they did in the Tour of Taiwan in March, when the squad won two stages through Shahrul Mat Amin and Saufi Mat Senan despite two riders short.

“We would have liked to start the race with Saiful as his form has been improving. But now, I will have to stress on a clear strategy for this race,” said Duclos. “We will use it as a preparation race for the Tour of Singkarak in Indonesia, which comes right after the Tour of Iran, but we will still set some targets.

“From the route profiles that we saw, it won’t be a race with too many hard climbs. There is just one hard mountain stage on the penultimate day and the rest are moderate.

“We can target stage wins through Harrif and Zamri, while Amirull will focus on finishing high in the general classification. For Amirull, we want to target an overall win in the Tour of Singkarak, where he finished fourth overall last year.”

The team will have to first contend with an arduous journey to Tabriz in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province in the north eastern tip of the country for the start of the race.

They left Kuala Terengganu yesterday to head to Tabriz via Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Istanbul, Turkey, from where they will endure a 15-hour journey by bus to arrive at the start venue.

“It is a tough journey, but it is the best option. We just have to work on keeping the riders fresh for the start on Wednesday,” said Duclos, who celebrated his 40th birthday last Wednesday.

The Tour of Iran begins a stretch of critical races in the team’s defence of their UCI Asia Tour overall crown.

Terengganu Cycling Team are fifth in the standings behind Drapac Cycling of Australia, Synergy-Baku Cycling Project of Azerbaijan, Team Nippo-De Rosa of Japan and ASC-Dukla Praha of the Czech Republic.

CYCLING: Team at a disadvantage