Road: Singapore National Road Championships!

Written by: Lin Ruobai
Date: Tue Oct 06 2009

Close to 200 riders took the line for the 2009 edition of the Singapore National Cycling Championship on the morning of October 4th 2009 to determine who would be crowned Singapore National champion.

A special thanks to our friends at dirtraction.com for this report.

2009 SINGAPORE National Championships

A colourful start to the race

The Singapore National Cycling Championship was last held in 2005 on the grounds of the NTU campus, but this time around it would take place at a brand new race course at Kaki Bukit Viaduct, an elevated 3km stretch of dual carriageway winding its way on the eastern region of Singapore.

OCBC Singapore Cycling Team, Team Toshiba-Bikelabz, LeTua Cycling Team a professional continental setup from Malaysia, fueled the best riders for the race, with the intention of capturing both the championship and their silverware!

The days events started with the Mens Juniors and Sports Open categories in the morning. With strong challenges from adrenaline charged Juniors, the battle was intense on the wind swept race course. Eventually it would be 18-year old Malvin Lai Yanyang, Team Cycleworx, taking 1st place, as well as winning the coveted Mens Juniors National Champion title.

A nervous peloton before the attacks began

The Sports Open riders, whilst not contending for a National Champions title, were no less tenacious in their bid for the win, with Willie Loo of Team Toshiba-Bikelabz sprinting into 1st place.

The Mens Masters and Womens Open continue the intensity of the race with American Kevin Byrns finished 1st in the Mens Masters category and local rider Emi bin Ahmad capturing the Mens Masters National Champion title. The Womens Open National Champion title would end up going to Dinah Chan with a respectable 3rd place in the sprints, while Team Toshiba-Bikelabz’s Malaysian riders Noor Azian and Mariana took 1st and 2nd places respectively.

The mens peloton rolls along . . .

Mens Open National Championship

The highlight of the event would be the Mens Open National Champion race, being very highly competitive and fielding riders from an assortment of semi-professional teams. The grueling 144km race become a race of attrition with more than half the field dropping off the pace. Previous Mens Juniors National Champion Low Ji Wen, combined a lethal mix of endurance and tactics to take the win. Low, currently racing for Malaysian-based LeTua Cycling Team, played it safe early on in the race and patiently waited for the lead pack to break up before striking, leapfrogging from one rider to the next until connecting with the remnants of the early break to form a 3-man lead pack. Attacking in the last few minutes of the final lap, he managed to stay ahead of Team Toshiba-Bikelabz’s Ahmad Fallanie and Mohammad Sharul and sprint to a sweet double victory of both 1st place and the title of National Champion.

Ji Wen Low driving the pace near the end

“It really was a race of attrition” Low said upon crossing the finish line.

With their performance as the top placing Singaporean riders for their respective category, the following riders are crowned the Singapore National Road Cycling Champions for 2009.

Mens Elite – LOW Ji Wen
Womens Elite – Dinah CHAN
Mens Masters - Emi BIN AHMAD
Mens Juniors – LAI Yanyang Malvin

About DirTraction

DirTraction is a organization which seeks to promote cycling to adventure junkie and provide professional World Class racing in the region. The organization’s core business is in the planning of regular cycing activities, including races and bike festivals, the development of cross discipline races, conducting bike clinics for entry level bikers, as well as trail-building and maintenance of offroad trails in the region. DirTraction’s vision is to cultivate Singapore’s community of outdoor sports lovers and to grow their sense of adventure for the future.

For more information on DirTraction, please log on to: www.dirtraction.com

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