KUALA LUMPUR: Continental cycling team Terengganu Cycling Team (TSG) have grand designs of continuing to dominate the top spot in Asia for the fourth consecutive year in the International Cycling Union (UCI) rankings.
TSG chief operations officer Nasiruddin Wan Idrus said that in their bid to extend the achievement, the team plan to compete in at least 42 races this season.
TSG achieved a hat-trick of top spots in Asia for the past three seasons - in 2021, 2022 and 2023 - in addition to previously winning the same title in 2012 and 2019.
"We have identified several races, including the Tour of Turkiye this month as well as the Tour of Kumano, the Tour of Japan and the Tour of Algeria in May.
"Many more races, we will have a very congested fixture schedule this year," he said when contacted by Bernama recently.
Based on the rankings issued by UCI, the Kuala Terengganu-based team is in pole position with 313 points, ahead of another continental team, Roojai Insurance (262 points) and JCL Team UKYO (241 points).
Nasiruddin, meanwhile, is confident his team is on the right track to retain the title by amassing as many points as possible before the UCI 2024 calendar ends in October.
"For phase one (January to March), TSG have taken part in 10 races and garnered over 300 points. Going by our previous record, we managed to accumulate over 1,000 points by the end of the season, so I dare say we are on the right track.
"Armed with our existing lineup of riders, we are confident that this can be done," he said.
Previously, TSG announced several new faces, including imports like Andreas Miltiadis of Cyprus and Merhawi Kudus Ghebremedhin of Eritrea to fill vacancies left behind by riders from the previous season, namely Jambaljamts Sainbayar (Mongolia) and Jeroen Meijers (Netherlands), to face tougher challenges this season.
TSG have also been boosted by the presence of national rider Muhammad Nur Aiman Rosli, who joined the team for a year.
The other eight local riders in TSG this season are Harrif Saleh, Irwandie Lakasek, Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff, Wan Abdul Rahman Hamdan, Zuladri Amin Zulkurnain, Kee Zhe Yie, Muhammad Shahmir Aiman Abd Halim dan Nur Amirull Fakhruddin Mazuki as team captain.– Bernama