Ipoh became the first pit stop for Malaysia’s oldest cycling race, Jelajah Malaysia 2016, a week-long contest that saw Iranian cyclist, Emami Rahim from Pishgaman Giant Team win the first leg of the race leaving two riders from 7 Eleven-Sava RBP Team, Lim Rustom and NIeto Edgar Nohales, as second and second runner-up.
The race that began on October 18 at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur and ended at Ipoh, was the first out of five stages and also the longest race of them all, covering a grueling distance of 206.5km. It took Emami four hours, 44 minutes and five seconds; 18 seconds ahead from the runner-up. Malaysia’s rider, Nur Amirul Fakhruddin from Terengganu Cycling Team won fourth place after finishing the race (+1:13 seconds later than the winner).
The race which began on October 18 and ending on Oct 22, was attended by 120 riders from 20 teams who cycled up to 756.9km to vie for the five jerseys: Yellow (Overall winner), Blue (Sprint), Red Polka Dot (Kings of Mountains; KOM), Red (Malaysia) and White (Under-23).
Soon after the first stage, riders continued their race from Sungai Siput to Cameron Highlands where Pishgaman Giant Team secured the first three placings on October 19. The third leg took place on October 20 from Gua Musang to Pasir Puteh which saw Malaysian’s Mohd Harif Saleh from Terengganu Cycling Team win first place, while Muhamad Zawawi from NSC Mycron grabbed first place at the fourth stage at Machang to Gong Badak on October 21. The last stage which was from Kemaman to Kuala Terengganu saw Park Sung Baek from KSPO finishing first.
When the race ended at Terengganu, Pishgaman Giant Team won the best team and secured all three yellow jerseys. Nik Mohamad Azman Zulkifli from NSC Mycron won first-place in the Best Malaysia Rider alongside with Nur Amirul Fakhruddin (Terengganu Cycling Team) and Muhamad Zawawi Azman (NSC Mycron).
Ili Aqilah
