The podium winners at the fifth stage of the GCC Cycling Tour celebrate in Doha yesterday. The sixth round of the tour will be of nine laps around the Losail area today. The next two stages will take place in UAE and thereafter the riders will head to Oman for the concluding stages.
Doha: UAE riders Mansoor Al Tani and Tareq Obaid Murad overcame tough weather conditions to dominate the fifth stage of the GCC Cycling Tour in Doha yesterday.
On a cold and windy day, the Emirati duo finished 1-2 at the end of the challenging 110km route.
Al Tani and Murad took 2:53;32s and 2:53;33 to complete the route from Al Khor and Losail to the clinch top two places.
The local fans had something to shout about as Qatar rider Hamad Afif finished with a time of 2:53;44s to come third.
Mohamed Al Murawwi grabbed the overall leader’s yellow jersey and Ahmed Al Mansouri got hold of the green one given for maximum points to cap a spectacular day of cycling for the UAE.
Compatriot Talal Sudain brought more glory by clinching the white jersey for the best young rider.
Qatar’s hope Afif got off to a good start but the UAE riders caught up with him.
Afif was happy with the third place finish.
“It was a good day for us. After winning a stage in Bahrain we are again at the podium. Hopefully we will finish among the top two teams.”
Qatar’s coach Branko Fillip said: “I am happy with my cyclists’ performance on the tour. We have limited riders but it’s good to have third podium finish in five stages. Afif is a talented rider and he was very good in the fifth stage considering the tough windy conditions and more experienced UAE riders as opponents.”
Qatar’s Moosa won the individual time trial stage, the opening stage of the tour in Bahrain and Ahmed Elbourdainy came second in the second stage. Qatar failed to finish at the podium in the next two stages held in Saudi Arabia, before heading to Doha.
“We are at third spot in the overall team classification and are aiming to finish ahead of second-placed Bahrain. However, it will be tough to tackle Bahrain riders during the next two stages in UAE,” Fillip added.
The Peninsula
