Muradian Halmuratov swept the men’s road events in the Hero Cycles Asian cycling championship by winning the individual road race on the final day at the Buddh International Circuit.
The Uzbek had also claimed gold in the individual time trial competition on Thursday.
Fast track
“It was a tactical fight, and since I’m not a good sprinter, I tried to stay ahead of the main pack of riders and attacked regularly. This (BIC) is a very fast track with sharp corners,” said Halmuratov, who completed the 156.2 km race in three hours, 33 minutes and 59 seconds.
Iran’s Arvin Moazemi Goudarzi won the silver medal, followed by Kazakhstan’s Andrey Mizurov in third.
Last edition’s silver medallist Mehdi Sohrabi could only manage a 12th place finish, two minutes and 39 seconds behind Halmuratov.
Iran manager Chaichi Raghemi explained that his team had initially placed Hossain Nateghi, who came 23rd, as the leader but after he fell during the first lap, Goudarzi replaced him. India’s gloomy road cycling campaign ended on a disappointing note on Sunday as Atul Kumar, Sombir, Amresh Singh and Arvind Panwar failed to complete the race.
The men’s event brought an end to the 33rd edition of the Asian Cycling Championship, with South Korea leading the medals tally.
Though it did not claim a podium spot in any of the road events, South Korea finished with a rich haul of eight gold, two silver and three bronze medals. The South Koreans were followed by Hong Kong which won seven medals, including four golds. The third place went to Malaysia.
The 2014 Asian cycling championship will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan.
The results: Men: Individual road race (156.2 km): 1. Muradian Halmuratov (Uzb) 3:33:59; 2. Arvin Moazemi Goudarzi (Iri) 3:34:11; 3. Andrey Mizurov (Kaz) 3:34:16.
