Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al Thani (second left), President of the Qatar Cycling Federation (QCF), is seen with Ihab El Feky (right), General Manager of Qatar Automobiles Company, after a sponsorship ceremony in Doha yesterday. Also seen are Magid Al Naimi (right), Secretary General, QCF, and Nasser Al Kabi, Board Member, QCF.PICTURE: SYAD OMAR
DOHA: Top Australian rider Chloe Hosking will meet Qatar’s first ever women’s cycling team today in a bid to assess the capability of the young riders in Doha, this was announced by cycling chief Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al Thani yesterday.
Last year’s white jersey winner Hosking, who clinched one of the three stages during the Ladies’ Tour of Qatar in 2013, is set to have a detailed chat with Qatari riders before mounting on her bike for this week’s edition which kicks off at Museum of Islamic Art tomorrow.
Just over two months ago, QCF named a batch of 22 girls that formed the country and region’s first women’s cycling team.
Ramz Sbeitan (17), Salma Marey (16), Reem Sbeitan (13), Nermeen Ghounim (16), Rana Sbeitan (16) and Dana Othman Abuhejleh (16) are some of the girls training at Losail Circuit under the tutorship of Finnish coach Pia Sundstedt.
“We have chosen top Australian cyclist Chloe Hosking to meet our riders and check their progress,” Sheikh Khalid, President of Qatar Cycling Federation (QCF), said ahead of today’s meeting at Losail International Circuit.
“She will have practice laps with our national side at Losail Circuit. She will ride with our new team,” Sheikh Khalid added. “We want her to see our riders and give her feedback. We have been planning this for some time now.
“We will look to her feedback. We want our young riders to talk to her so that they can follow her. She is young and she can be of help and inspiration to them. Our riders can engage her with questions. Our future has started already,” Sheikh Khalid said.
QCF is also expected to name Hosking as an ‘Ambassador for the 2016 UCI Road World Championships to be held in Doha.
In an earlier chat with The Peninsula, Qatar coach Pia said her squad was moving in the right direction.
“I have a fantastic group,” Pia said. “They are all young. The youngest is 13. The oldest is 21. It is a good age to be doing all this,” she added.
“I am very excited about it. The process started in March-April (2013). I got this group together (late last year) and we have been training since then,” she added.
“I have some good riders. They still have to learn about the sport. I am teaching them skills on how to ride at corners, how to break from a group and how to change gears etc. They show great interest in everything we do,” she said.
“My wish we could have more races for women in the GCC (Middle East) so that we all could build the sport further. That would be great. That would be amazing for these riders. The 13-year-old we have - if she is willing to work hard you never know how far she can go,” Pia said.
Sheikh Khalid said Qatar wants to take the sport forward.
“Our mission is to develop this sport in the region. We just don’t want to hold races only. We wan’t to promote the sport. We always wanted to have a ladies team from Qatar and now that we formed a squad, we want to take the message to the rest of the region,” Sheikh Khalid said.
Sheikh Khalid said he was surprised to see how well the Ladies Tour of Tour Qatar had evolved since the first edition in 2009.
“The development of our Ladies Tour of Qatar was a surprise. It was amazing to see the way female riders tackle what we call tough conditions in Qatar,” Sheikh Khalid said. “That means the level of women’s cycling is going up. They are strong, professional and they take their performances seriously. I really enjoy watching their amazing performances. We always host top teams. I expect to see a good race because the way the teams have prepared. We can see them come here better prepared.”
Magid Al Naimi, Secretary General, QCF, said the two 2014 Tour of Qatar races will be broadcast across Asia, Europe by BeIN SPORTS.
“We are dealing with BeIN SPORTS and our signals are available internationally. Live streaming is also available,” Al Naimi said.
“Both Tours are widely seen in Europe and the Americas, especially the Men’s Tour. Our races reach millions of homes around the world,” he said.
THE PENINSULA
