HOSTS A'ali Club yesterday bagged the team time-trial race of the GCC Clubs Junior Cycling Championship which got underway near the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, writes RAMI HULAYYEL.
Lined up with five other teams representing five clubs from the Gulf, the Bahraini side showed stronger performance and better endurance on the inaugural day of this event, being organised for the first time.
A'ali team, who are making their first appearance in an international event, consisted of four riders with former rider Naji Abdulla as coach.
They are Jaffer Mohammed, Makki Hussain, Ali Abdulabbaz and Hassan Jawad.
A'ali completed the 54-km race on top with the fasted time of one hour, 12 minutes and four seconds, beating main rivals Al Nasser of the UAE (1:16:58) who finished second.
Al Nasser were spearheaded by Mohammed Abdulla, Ali Abbas, Abdulla Jassim and Abdulla Hussain. They finished ahead of Al Arabi (1:19:07), also of the UAE, who were third. Racing for Al Arabi yesterday were Ahmed Yousif, Jaber Al Mansoori, Mohammed Al Hoosani and Abdulla Yousif.
Fourth place was won by Al Ibtisam Club of Saudi Arabia, comprising Mohammed Hussain, Jaffer Saleh, Adel Yousif and Muneer Habib.
They were followed by compatriots Al Fath who were represented by Mohammed Al Essa, Abdulaziz Al Awad, Ghanim Radhi and Hussain Al Ayoob.
Bahrain's other representatives East Riffa, being coached by Abdullatif Al Shaikh, did not take part in yesterday's race. East Riffa team include four riders and they are Khalid Al Khaldy, Abed Rasool, Hussain Sameer and Fahad Al Anazi.
Yesterday's opening ceremony was held under the patronage of Bahrain Cycling Association president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa who honoured the top three winning teams right after the race.
Start
The race was flagged off by Shaikh Khalid in the presence of president of both the UAE and Arab Cycling Associations Shaikh Faisal Al Qassimi, A'ali club Hussain Al A'ali, GCC Organising Committee member Juma Al Ka'abi and other officials.
Shaikh Khalid congratulated the winners on their results and wished others success in the next races. He expressed appreciation to Shaikh Faisal for attending the races and thanked the participants for their co-operation with the association.
The BCA chief thanked the General Organisation for Youth and Sports, especially its president Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, for his co-operation with the association in organising this event.
He also extended his gratitude on behalf of the organising committee to Municipalities, Interior, Health Ministries and other parties for their assistance.
Meanwhile, two more races will be featured in this five-day event. Today will be a rest day while the second race is scheduled for tomorrow which is a time-trial and is over 25kms.
Teams will have another rest day on Friday ahead of the fifth and last day on Saturday when the final race is set and covers a 100-km distance.
