Azizulhasni set for Shanghai worlds as Richardson withdraws
The Malaysian cyclist is entered in the men's sprint and keirin, with British Cycling confirming Matthew Richardson's withdrawal without giving a reason.
Malaysia's Azizulhasni Awang will compete in the individual sprint and keirin at the world championships in Shanghai without facing Britain's Matthew Richardson, whose withdrawal has been confirmed by British Cycling.
The governing body did not explain its decision. Richardson acknowledged that he had been withdrawn and said on social media that he would cooperate with British Cycling's procedures. He holds the 200-metre world record of 8.857 seconds, set at the Konya Nations Cup.
Azizulhasni, 38, has taken two keirin titles in the UCI World Cup series this season. He defeated Richardson in the final in Perth and Dutch rider Harrie Lavreysen in the final in Nilai. Lavreysen is also competing in Shanghai, having won four golds at the Santiago World Championships.
The Malaysian also won keirin gold at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in August and at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. His preparations for Shanghai involved tapering twice for those competitions. Olympic qualification points towards the 2028 Los Angeles Games are available at the world meet.
The 2017 world keirin champion took a break after Paris 2024 and missed the two most recent world championships. Malaysia's last medals at the competition came in Berlin in 2020, when Azizulhasni earned bronze in both keirin and individual sprint.
