Knee injury forces Fauzan out of Le Tour de Langkawi
14/1/2009, NST

A NAGGING knee injury has forced Fauzan Ahmad Lutfi (pic) to lose all hope of contesting Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) on Feb 9-15.

The 22-year-old national rider is likely to be out until April with a torn knee muscle that has already kept him out of action for more than two months.

"Some people said my hopes were slim of getting into shape for LTdL, but I guess now this means there's no hope at all," said Fauzan, who was hoping it would not be too serious.

He had been linked as the reason why several Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) officials rebutted a Timesport story naming the line-up of the national squad last week via its press statement.

But it seems any changes to the national squad or the MCF Continental team now, will not include the Penang rider.

Climber Fauzan has been a mainstay in the national squad for LTdL since he made his debut as a 19-year-old with the Proton T-Bikes team in 2005.

The torn muscle in his right knee is similar to that suffered by compatriot Ng Yong Li in 2006.

That put the then Wurth-Liberty Seguros rider out for three months when the injury was aggravated after the climber forced himself to compete in LTdL that year, finally pulling out when the damage to his knee was too severe at the Genting Highlands stage.

"I saw what happened to Yong Li then. It is the same injury, so I know there's no use forcing myself and spoil the whole season," said Fauzan.

"Even if I did force myself, I've been out of training for more than two months. I wouldn't be able to get myself into the form I would want for LTdL.

"On top of that, the injury is still being treated. I'm getting injections every week. So, I better just focus on recovering after it has healed, which the doctors say will be somewhere in March or April. I'll start my season then."

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