Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al Thani, President of QCF
DOHA: Live television coverage of this year’s Ladies Tour of Qatar will help take the series to a new level of popularity around the world, Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al Thani said yesterday.
Sheikh Khalid, President of the Qatar Cycling Federation (QCF), said: “The Ladies Tour of Qatar has become very popular in a very short period of time. Initially we were distributing 15-minute slides of our stages to international audiences. Then the duration of TV slides became longer and now we are ready for live coverage.”
The QCF president added: “Since this event became very popular with the international audiences, we decided to expand the event by adding another stage. This year we will have four stages.”
Belgian cycling legend Eddy Merckx endorsed Sheikh Kahlid’s sentiments.
“Everything about the Ladies Tour of Qatar has improved with each year,” Merckx said.
“The routes are better and the women’s event is on par with the men’s Tour of Qatar. We can’t complain.
“We are allowed only 15 teams in the competition but we got interest from around 30 teams. This will tell you how popular the women’s event is,” the 67-year-old Belgian added.
“Qatar will stage the World Championships in 2016 so all this adds up very nicely.
“Qatar is moving in the right direction,” he said.
Sheikh Khalid said Al Jazeera’s coverage of both the events would be well received in the Arab world.
“The live coverage of the women’s event will spur interest in the Arab world. It would be interesting for young (Arab) women to see top cyclists in action in Qatar,” Sheikh Khalid said.
“This live coverage will play a positive role in the development of the sport in the region, especially for young girls.
“People are more interested to see the Ladies Tour of Qatar because the TV channels are is according more time to our races. We want to make this the most popular event on the women’s calendar,” the QCF president said. THE PENINSULA
