‘There were more than 130 riders who took to the road and participated in the first round with a great deal of enthusiasm. We can clearly see more and more people willing to be part of our races. The second round will be held on November 11. We expect another day of fun riding with intention of claiming points from the riders’

The Qatar Cycling Federation (QCF) is thrilled to see the ‘positive’ response from the riders who featured in the opening leg of the new Royal Air Maroc Cycling league.
A total of 132 riders took part in the one-day leg that started at Al Thakira Youth Centre and ended at Ras Laffan in Al Khor, QCF Technical Secretary Anrej Filip said.
“Like I said during the pre-event press conference, we can feel that cycling enthusiasm in the country is on the up,” Filip said. “There were more than 130 riders who took to the road and participated in the first round with a great deal of enthusiasm.”
“We can clearly see more and more people willing to be part of our races. The second round will be held on November 11. We expect another day of fun riding with intention of claiming points from the riders,” he added.
From October 8 to 16, Qatar hosted the UCI World Roads Championships that saw fans turning up in large number on all the days of competitions.
The event is being supported by Qatar Cyclists (QC) and Qatar Chain Reaction (QCR), two independent bodies that cater to promoting the sport among the cycling enthusiasts in the country.
In the Men’s A category, Qatar national team elite riders dominated the race taking first three spots with Abdurrahman Salem clinching the top spot in the first leg held last Friday.
The Men’s B race was very competitive, since riders were racing more on their own rather than as a team.
Hamad Salem from Qatar Cyclists (QC) grabbed the glory of the day winning solo.
Julie Melvile from Carbon Wheels racing was dominant in Women’s A category while Helena Corby won the Women’s B race with a huge advantage.
Abdulaziz al-Mohanadi of
Qatar Cyclists was first in Men’s C class.
Secretary General of QCF Ahmed al-Hemaidi, Executive Manager of QCF Jamal al-Kuwari and Regional Director of Royal Air Moraco Adel al-Khaloofi
presented the awards at victory ceremony.
The leaders in each category will wear the Royal Air Maroc scarlet jersey in next race which will be contested in Al Shamal Sports Club on 11th of November.
According to the organisers, the 10-leg series will see events being held with a gap of two or three weeks with the league
officially culminating in April next year.
The riders will have to accumulate points from each round and a cyclist with the top tally in each class will be declared a winner at the end of the league.
According to Filip, the rounds in December and February could be rescheduled because of the holiday season in December while in February, QCF stages the Tour of Qatar cycling races.

Results
Men A (67 km)
1. Abdurrahman SALEM (Qatar National Senior Team) 1h36:57
2. Abdullah AFIF (Qatar National Senior Team) +0:00
3. Khalid ALBORDINI (Qatar National Senior Team) +0:00
Men B (67 km)
1. Hamad SALEM (Qatar Cyclists) 1h53:07
2. Hamed ELTAYEB (Rasen
Velostar) +1:39
3. Nehad KADRY (None) +1:39
Men C (34 km)
1. Abdulaziz ALMOHANNADI (Qatar Cyclists) 1h00:29
2. Ronald Allan ALFONSO (Pinoy Roadies Qatar) +0:30
3. John GAFFNEY (Rasen
Velostar) +1:16
Women A (67 km)
1. Julie MELVILLE (Carbon Wheels Racing) 1h54:54
2. Isora SOSA CABALLERO
(Carbon Wheels Racing) +1:21
3. Rebecca GRACE (TriClub Doha) +9:53
Women B (34 km)
1. Helena CORBY 1h18:56
2. Angie DIXON +15:22
3. Susan DUN +25:53