The winners of the second round of the Royal Air Maroc Cycling League pose with the officials of QCF, QCR and QC.
Al Shamal Sports club hosted the second round of the Royal Air Maroc Cycling League over the weekend. Organized by the Qatar Cycling Federation (QCF) in collaboration with Qatar Chain Reaction (QCR) and Qatar Cyclists (QC), the second round saw 126 riders on the start line.
Al Shamal area is well known for its more or less constant north wind called Shamal, which made riding difficult for the participants.
The strongest A category had to tackle with three laps (110 km) starting form Al Shamal Sports Club through back roads until Al Ghariyah returning via Shamal highway.
The race saw many escapes until the trio Abdullah Afif (Qatar national team), Abdulrahman Jarboua (Qatar National team) and Marouane Znagui (Qatar Chain reaction) broke away in second lap and grabbed the honours.
Men B category joined by Ladies A category (2 laps - 74 km) finished in a big bunch sprint with Qatari Fawaz Alhichan (Rassen Velostar) taking the honours. Isora Sosa Cabalero (Carbon Wheels) was the strongest in the Ladies A category.
The Men C and Ladies B had to do one lap (38 km in total). The Lusail team trio composed of Qataris Ahmed Alsubaey, Faleh Al Maadheed and Abdulaziz Al Mohannadi made an escape immediately after the lead car pulled away following the neutral start. The breakaway peloton tried to get organized and do the chase, but it was too late to catch the leaders. Ana Jarque was the fastest in Ladies B category.
The League will continue after two weeks on Friday, 25th of November with individual time trial race in Lusail, a QCF official confirmed.
The Royal Air Maroc Cycling League is a new event planned to attract riders from across the country to the sport.
In the first round, a total of 132 riders took part in the opening leg that started at Al Thakira Youth Centre and ended at Ras Laffan in Al Khor. QCF Technical Secretary Anrej Filip said: "This is fast becoming an interesting points race. The riders showed a lot of commitment in the second round that saw heavy crosswinds making the competition very challenging for the participants."
According to the organisers, the 10-leg series will see races 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 of the league. Filip said the rounds in December and February could be rescheduled.
"We may do that because of the holiday season in December while in February, QCF stages the Tour of Qatar cycling races, " Filip said.
