NRCC: Siti Nur Adibah Akma relieved able to defend 30.2km time trial title

MELAKA, Dec 29 -- Despite failing to better her time last year, Johor cyclist Siti Nur Adibah Akma Mohd Fuad was still relieved to be able to defend her elite category 30.2km individual time trial title at the 2021 National Road Cycling Championships (NRCC) here today.

Admitting that she was under a little pressure to win at the annual event, the hard work put in by the native of Tangkak, Johor paid off.

She clocked 46 minutes 41,964 seconds, failing to improve on her time of 45:57s in last year’s edition.

Terengganu rider Nur Aisyah Mohamad Zubir came in second in 46: 42.038s, just 0.0074s adrift. Third place was won by a rider from Selangor.

According to Siti Nur Adibah Akma, winning was her target and because of that she had put in a lot of hard work.

"Overall, I am satisfied because I was not feeling well this morning. But it was a little frustrating when the last 500 metres was somewhat disrupted due to technicalities. I failed to maintain my momentum because of disruption by police motorcycles," she told reporters after the race, at Rumah Melaka here.

Meanwhile, Johor cycling team coach, Junaidi Mohamad Nasir admitted that it was not easy for her to retain the title and that was their main mission at this meet.

"We worked hard to ensure that the national jersey remains ours. Indeed, from the beginning, we had made sure that Adibah's momentum is at its best," he said.

Commenting on today's competition, Junaidi said that he was still not satisfied with the cycling speed due to wind and road conditions.

"We came five days early, to familiarise the riders with the road conditions here. Everything was as expected including the wind conditions but this morning the winds were extremely strong. So there was nothing we could do about it," he said.

-- BERNAMA