KUALA LUMPUR – For cyclist Mohd Harrif Saleh, age is just a number.
Mohd Harrif, or ‘Mamat’ who has turned 35, does not believe age would be a hindering factor for him to achieve good result in this year’s Petronas Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL).
“To me (being 35) is just a number… not more than that. I still have the energy to continue cycling, and push the team’s name towards glory,” said Harrif.
Citing Mark Cavendish as his idol, Mamat said Cavendish’s performance and acheivements has been instrumental for him to emulate.
“Even though he’s 39, he has proven his capabilities to deliver excellent results, and race competitively. I idolises him, and I wish to emulate what he has done. If I’m called to represent Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG), of course I will give the best of my abilities to deliver the results,” he added.
Mamat already has an enviable achievement to his name in LTdL, as he holds the record for the most appearance in the race’s history.
The record was written in last year’s edition when he made his 14th appearance, surpassing Iran’s Ghader Mizbani who has made 13 appearance.
Other Malaysia riders in the list were two former national riders – Annuar Manan and Loh Sea Keong, each with 12 appearances.
As I said before, I do feel lucky and proud to be able to make history as the rider with the most appearances in LTdL history. As far as I can remember, I began cycling (at LTdL) when I was 20 years old. So if I get the team’s trust again this year, it will be another special moment for me. Anyway, as for now I’m training as usual since we will be participating in one race in China some time later, so I will try to do my best,” he explained.
Mamat is known as a sprint specialist and is considered as one of Malaysia’s best riders in the history of the highway cycling arena.
For the record, he has three stage victories in LTdL to his name – winning Stage 2 in 2019, and Stage 2 and Stage 5 in the 2020 edition.
“Of course I want to perform to the best of my abilities. If possible, I want to achieve more success in my career, especially at the LTdL race held in my own country,” he said.
For this year’s LTdL, a total of 22 teams including three World Team – EF Education Easypost from the United States, Astana Qazaqstan Team (Kazakhstan) and DSM Firminich PostNL (Netherlands) will be challenging for the title.
LTdL 2024, which entered its 28th edition this year, is scheduled to run from September 29 to October 6, involving eight stages covering a route of 1,227.2 kilometers (km).
The island of Langkawi is again listed in this year’s route which also sees two stages of the inaugural race to be held in two cities in Sarawak, Miri and Bintulu.
