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KUALA LUMPUR: Azizulhasni Awang has warned fans not to expect him to be at his absolute best when he races at the Asian Championships in Nilai on Jan 31-Feb 6.
The Asian meet will be important for the national squad, including Azizulhasni, in their mission to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The winner in each event will receive 600 UCI points, which is substantial.
Azizulhasni recently confirmed that he will be racing at the National Velodrome.
“Yes, with God’s will I will be racing (in Nilai),” said Azizulhasni recently.
“The plan for next season is to pull back a bit because I have had a very busy season this year.
“It is time to go hard in training next year and go through a very heavy training load to put on muscle and gain weight.
“If I do not do it next year, I will not be able to get optimal performances in 2028.
“(Subsequently) you guys might notice a little bit of decline in my performances next year which may not be as good as it was this year.
“Next year is, however, the only time that I can do it (heavy training load). But it is all to get the best performances in 2028.
“I have been through this (Olympic cycles) five times already, so I know what to do. I am just drawing from my experience.”
Azizulhasni has not missed an edition of the Olympics since he made his debut at Beijing 2008. The Dungun-born rider recently confirmed he will be aiming for a sixth edition at LA 2028.
Despite his advancing years, the 38-year-old enjoyed the best season of his career this year.
He won two gold and two bronze in the UCI World Cup series, won the keirin gold at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games as well as keirin gold and individual sprint bronze at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.