KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia Pro Cycling (MPC) team are hoping to go for a month-long high altitude training stint in China next month to increase their aerobic capacity ahead of the new season.
MPC team principal Sayuti Zahit said the team have identified the city of Kunming as the most suitable location for training.
MPC is the successor of the now defunct Team Sapura Cycling, which was also founded by Sayuti.
"I have heard about training in Kunming for a long time even since I was still racing competitively as a rider but only during our recent trip to China did we realise how well it could suit us," said Sayuti when contacted today.
"The average altitude in the city is roughly 2,000m which is already considered high altitude. Previously with Sapura, we conducted camps in Chiang Rai (Thailand) which was less than 1,000m.
"They also have complete facilities for sports in Kunming and have a complex similar to what we have in Bukit Jalil where we can stay.
"Altitude training is highly beneficial for most aerobic sports as it can boost the production of red blood cells which are important to carry oxygen.
"World Tour teams usually spend about 90 days a season training at high altitude, spending roughly 30 days up high before each ground tour.
"Our riders will benefit from the camp, especially the younger ones who have never experienced such training before.
"We hope to go to Kunming next month. This is, however, subject to approval from our sponsors Helaz as it will incur some additional costs when compared to going to Thailand."
MPC are placing a priority on doing well at the National Championships (Feb 23-25) as they need to secure valuable UCI points from the race to gain more invitations to UCI Asia Tour events next year.
MPC competed in the Yantian 100 Classic as well as the Tour of Nujiang in China last week.
Their rider Syawal Mazlin was able to finish 20th in the Tour of Nujiang general classification.