The Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG) rider was in his element with 1km to go, overcoming three riders in the front group to contribute Malaysia’s 37th gold at the Games.

The 25-year-old Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) 2020 King of the Mountain crossed the line in a time of 3’48:22s, ahead of his Indonesian challenger Aiman ​​Cahyadi and Thai rider Navuti Liphongyu.

The 162.25km race also saw the Malaysian team, which included road cycling specialist Akmal Hakim Zakaria, record an overall time of 3’51:17s for sixth place.

Of the three other national riders in the fray, Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Marzuki finished 31st, Zawawi Azman (32nd) and Nur Aiman ​​Rosli in 33rd place. All three riders clocked 4’04:48s.

National road cycling head coach Ng Joo Ngan was very happy with the squad, which consists a combination of two of Malaysia’s leading professional teams – TSG and Sapura Cycling Team.

“Our boys did very well. Thank you Mr President (MNCF president Abu Samah Abdul Wahab). You brought me back as a coach and I gave them very good advice and I hope they will continue their good work,” he said on MNCF’s social media.

After winning 13 gold, 10 silver and three bronze medals at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, the national squad took home only one bronze through Sheikh Muhammad Taslim Shaikh Mohd Raziff in BMX (men’s freestyle flat land) in Philippines in 2019.

Following that, MNCF decided to get the services Joo Ngan, a former national coach and cyclist, who had once guided former Olympian M Kumaresan, in planning a winning strategy in Hanoi.