National cyclist wins a silver, two bronzes at Queensland c’ships
National cyclist Mohamed Elyas Mohamed Yusoff did not intend to participate in the Queensland State Championships, but did so anyway to accumulate more race experience before next month's Queen's Cup in Bangkok.
The 21-year-old surpassed his own expectations at the Nov 24-26 event in Brisbane after winning one silver in the men's kilometre time trial and a bronze each in the sprint and keirin events.
Elyas, who has been training in Brisbane since Nov 13, said yesterday: "This was a bonus race for me... It wasn't on my list but it came up and I thought, why not?
"I was hoping to win the (time trial), but the competition was pretty strong. So I'm quite happy with a silver.
"I'm still pretty new at the sprint and the keirin, I started doing them only this year, so I wasn't aiming to win but getting these medals were good additions to my learning experience."
The Singaporean, who won bronze in the 1km time trial at the August SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, feels confident ahead of the Dec 16-17 Queen's Cup.
He will remain in Brisbane till Dec 13 before heading to Thailand.
"My performance here gives me a bit more confidence going into the Queen's Cup because the level here is probably comparable or slightly higher than what it would be in the Queen's Cup, which is Thailand's national competition," added Elyas.
"I hope to win the sprint and keirin events there."
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