By LIM TEIK HUAT
PETALING JAYA: Adiq Husainie Othman (pic) is the country’s first World Junior Championship medal winner in track cycling but coach John Beasley feels that his prospect to be a top rider was better on the road.
Although the 18-year-old continued to show his potential on track with an impressive performance in the second leg of the Track World Cup in Melbourne last week, Beasley is keen to let him go for a pre-season road training in Europe with an eye on a strong campaign in the Tour of Langkawi next year.
Adiq, who has been with Australian professional continental team Drapac-Porsche in Melbourne for the last two months, competed in the points race in the second leg of the World Cup. He won his qualifying heat en route to a 10th place finish in the final.
He also made the scratch race final in the first leg in Manchester last month.
Adiq first made his mark on the track with a bronze medal effort at the world junior meet in Moscow in August. He followed up with a silver in the men’s road race in the Asian championships in Indonesia.
“He is doing equally well in the track endurance races but that is part of the training process,” said Beasley in a telephone interview from Melbourne.
“Adiq definitely has huge potential on the road and I believe he will make it big there too. The immediate focus is to get him to continue with early season training as I would want him to ride in the Tour of Langkawi and, hopefully, spring some surprises.”
If he switches focus to the road, it could mean having to forego participation in the World Track Championships in Copenhagen in March if he makes the grade.
Beasley added that they had not come to a final decision on the matter.
“We will deal with it when the time comes. We have to look at his best interests and talk to him to see what he wants,” said the Australian.
“As it is, he is a good prospect for the track and road competitions in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games next year.” STAR
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