Couple sweep men's and women's titles in L'etape Johor Cycling Championships

KOTA TINGGI - Married couple Matthew Brittain and Alicia Brittain topped the men’s and women’s elite 140-kilometre categories at the L’Etape Johor 2023 cycling championships in Desaru Coast today.

Matthew, 36, who was also a gold medallist in the four-man rowing event at the 2012 London Olympic Games, finished the road race in 3 hours 17 minutes and 40 seconds.

In the women’s race, Alicia, 35, managed to win the race in a time of 3:22:14s.

Matthew, who hails from South Africa, said he did not expect to win the race fought out between 2,383 other cyclists in the category.

"But to me, cycling is more challenging than rowing because it is exposed to hot weather and there is a risk of accidents.

"The sport of rowing is not as hot because it is on the water and only requires the strength of the hand swing, but cycling requires leg and arm strength,” he said after winning the race.

When asked why he ventured into a new sport, he said he wanted to try something new, besides challenging himself to be active in this sport which is said to be increasingly popular.

In the men’s elite category, second place went to Arfan Faisal of Singapore with a time of 3:19:12s who was followed tantalisingly close behind by Australia’s Chris Dufton for third place with a time of 3:19:13s.

In the women's elite category, while Alicia (3:22:14s) was an easy winner, Rita Loh of Singapore snatched second place with a time of 3:57:29s to edge Noor Azian Alias of Malaysia (3:57:30s) in another ferocious 2-3 finish.

A total of 3,614 cyclists participated in the second edition of L’Etape Malaysia by the Tour de France organised in this country with scenic Desaru chosen as the race route involving two cycling distances of 140 km and 60 km. - Bernama