KOTA TINGGI – Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah is one of the cyclists to look out for at the L’Étape Malaysia by Tour de France today as the MotoGP racer is participating in the full 140km-route held at Desaru Coast, Johor.
Although his specific skills and profession are motorcycle races, he told reporters when met at the event that cycling has always been one of his favourite hobbies.
“As a motorcycle racer, I always look for different types of fitness to prepare for my race.
“I love many other sports, but I have always been serious about cycling,” said Hafizh, who was the first Southeast Asian to race in the MotoGP category.
Hafizh started cycling consistently in 2019 as it helps develop his physical endurance.
The 28-year-old said he had previously participated in a professional cycling event, the Malaysia National Championship in 2021, but admitted that he did not manage to finish the race because he lacked the preparation.
However, for L'Étape Malaysia, he aims to finish the full 140km-route with his team.
“My team and I have been preparing for L'Étape Malaysia where we cycled from Kuala Lumpur to Desaru on Tuesday which took us three days.
“We stopped at Melaka, and then continued our journey to Kluang before heading off to Desaru.
“Despite strong competition from other participants, we would just like to focus on our safety. So, we don’t have a specific target for this event, but we are aiming to do our best,” he added.
Seeing that it is a huge scale event, Hafizh said the best thing his team would like to do is avoid any incidents or injuries.
L'Étape Malaysia has been recorded as the world’s second-largest L’Étape by Tour de France series event with nearly 5,000 registered participants.
It offers riders a choice of two routes − 140km and 60km − and the option to participate as solo riders or as team members.
The Vibes is the official media partner for L’Étape Malaysia and is participating in two teams sponsored by the Vinod Sekhar Foundation.
The Vibes is a PETRA News company which also publishes the Bahasa Malaysia portal Getaran. – The Vibes, June 4, 2022