The scrawny-looking Tsen Ren Bao is getting the better of of men twice his size. But before he was doing that, Tsen Ren Bao lived with his family in Kuala Lumpur.

“The first year I started racing here, I got the impression that: ‘You don’t belong here, get out of my way, this is my race’,” says the now 18-year-old.

Speaking on the phone with FMT, he recalls that at age 16, he was the only Asian to go head-to-head with Australian riders in their 20s and 30s.

“But as you slowly get results and start beating those older guys in races, they give you more respect.”

The surname Tsen may ring a bell to cycling fans – his father Tsen Seong Hoong is a former national cyclist who brought home gold during the 1995 SEA Games in Thailand. Owing to his father’s influence, Ren Bao took an interest in competitive cycling when he was 12.

The Tsen family migrated to Brisbane in 2016 looking for better education and job prospects. Little did they know that the eldest son would end up pursuing life in the fast lane and be trained by an Olympian.

In March, Ren Bao became the first Malaysian to join the continental cycling team Meiyo CCN to be trained as a professional racer. He is coached by Jordan Kerby, a former Individual Pursuit world champion who will be representing New Zealand in the Tokyo Olympics.

And on Feb 6, Ren Bao left his mark on the roads of Ballarat, Melbourne, when he went up against Australia’s finest in the Under-19 Road National Championship race.

Seventy-seven of the best Aussie riders had their wheels on the starting line, but Ren Bao pushed himself past his limit and finished an impressive 12th.

The ride, he says, was one of the most painful and difficult of his life.

“I’m actually surprised by how well I did as I cramped on the fourth lap,” Ren Bao says, adding that he had five more laps to endure before he could rest.

“The worst part was that I cramped at the base of a hill, so I suffered for two full kilometres during that climb.”

As other riders whizzed past him, he began falling behind. The thought of hitting a personal best, or even placing in the 30s, slipped further from his reach as the agonising pain stabbed away at his legs.

But he triumphed over the pain and made a comeback. Thinking about it now, Ren Bao reveals that it was his friend, mentor and father-figure Adam Baker who fuelled his success.

“I suddenly thought about all the money and time that Adam had spent flying me from Brisbane to Melbourne for this race.

“I got a boost from that and found myself pedalling really hard to get back into the group.”

Baker, who is the assistant sports director of Meiyo CCN, has been one of Ren Bao’s biggest supporters from the start and has massively influenced his journey.

“Words can’t describe him, he is the one that made me who I am today,” Ren Bao says proudly. “He’s always there to watch my races and trains with me on the flat terrain. He is basically like my second dad.”

A hard worker on and off the track

Midway through the conversation with FMT, Ren Bao excuses himself as he has a customer that needs tending to. The young cyclist is looking after his family’s grocery store in Brisbane, and luckily, multitasking is something he is familiar with.

He rises at 5am every morning and clocks in two hours of training before rushing to school. After school finishes at 3pm, he works at a bicycle store on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and spends the other weekdays at the family store until 6pm.

Ren Bao’s commitment to this routine keeps him motivated to achieve success on the professional circuit.

For all of his accomplishments, Ren Bao has had his fair share of struggles.

“At age 16, I wasn’t going anywhere and wasn’t getting any results. I thought of quitting and was so unmotivated at that point.”

Thankfully he pushed past this mental block, and his bicycle gears have been gliding ever since.

Before the conversation ends, Ren Bao shares that he has not been back to Malaysia since 2016 and that he misses his friends and family. “My stomach also growls for the taste of local foods like nasi lemak and cendol,” he laughs.

“When I do come back, though, I would love to compete in the SEA Games and represent Malaysia.”