Riyadh's podium momentum

After a stint in Europe where he attained three podium finishes, mountain biker Riyadh Hakim Lukman carried on his fine form, winning a national title three weeks after returning to Singapore.

He clocked 2min 10.466sec to win the men's open category at the OCBC Cycle National Championships 2021 Urban MTB Cross-Country - individual time trial yesterday. He was five seconds ahead of Farouk Effendy Bujang (2:15.944). Sathya Simman Chockalingam (2:17.174) was third.

The event, the first here, saw 147 cyclists race on a 1km course around the Singapore Sports Hub. The course included obstacles such as stairs, a crank course and rollers. Each competitor had to complete one lap.

Riyadh, 23, was pleased, especially as he had returned to training only last week after a short break. He had spent three months training and competing in Europe, where he was the first Singaporean to finish on the podium at an International Cycling Union (UCI) Mountain Bike World Cup. He returned to Singapore this month.

He said: "Having such a short race is a good way to get going again and I'm very happy to win on local soil. It's good to see my progress after my training and, going forward, I'm excited to continue and see what happens.

"This was challenging because there's this part where there's a climb (up) three flights of stairs and it's a different format because you're just racing against yourself, against the clock."

Riyadh did mainly eliminator races in Europe, where four riders compete against each other on the course at the same time.

But, to reduce the amount of time the cyclists spent in close proximity, the Singapore Cycling Federation opted for an individual time-trial format for the first time, where competitors entered the course one after another.

Other Covid-19 safety measures saw the 19-category field split into three waves. Participants had to be fully vaccinated or return a valid negative pre-event test result.

Before the event, Riyadh admitted that he felt a bit of pressure as he knew that all eyes would be on him after his success in Europe. But carrying over the mindset and practices he picked up there helped him stay focused.

He said: "Everyone knows you're on form and they want to beat you. I was quite nervous but, after I saw the times, I felt a bit more comfortable and decided to focus on my own race instead of the things I can't control.

"I made sure I did a good warm-up and had a good breakfast (two egg-and-chicken wraps made by his mother and a granola bar) because I learnt that nutrition is very important. In Europe, I always went full-on push mode during races and I had the same mentality during this race as well."

Runner-up Farouk of the Harding MTB Racing Team said he was blessed to be able to race against younger cyclists such as Riyadh, whom he admires.

The 33-year-old, who has been mountain biking for four years, said: "I didn't expect to win or finish second because everyone is really fast.

"He's our national champion and I'm really happy that he has the opportunity to go overseas and train to reach a higher level.

"I hope other young cyclists will follow in his footsteps and that he will continue raising awareness for the sport."

The surveyor also hopes more mountain biking events will be organised next year to motivate recreational riders like himself to push themselves harder and improve.

Singapore Cycling Federation vice-president (mountain biking) Muhammad Faroz Marzoki hopes to double or even treble the number of events next year. The SCF held five national championship events for the road and mountain biking disciplines this year, including yesterday's race.

Faroz, 33, said: "I'm glad that we're ending the year with a bang by giving the community an event that's conducted safely. Holding this in the heart of Kallang where there are people walking past will help more people know about the sport and maybe even give it a try.

"This also helps to raise awareness for the sport because we want more young riders and women to be involved. Having more events will also help us with that community outreach because we can spot talent more easily and help get them into the right programmes."