A pack of riders cycles past the Al Zubarah Fort during the fourth stage of the 169 km race from Al Zubarah to Doha at the Tour of Qatar cycling race in this February 3, 2005, file photo. QCF will stage the inaugural edition of Tour of Al Zubarah from December 4 to 7. PICTURES: SALIM SAMTRAMKOT
BY RIZWAN REHMAT
DOHA: With an eye on providing homegrown talent with more opportunities to race at high profile events, the Qatar Cycling Federation (QCF) has laid out a demanding route for the inaugural edition of Tour of Al Zubarah set to be held in the first week of December.
QCF Secretary-General Magid Al Naimi said the four-stage event will be held from December 4 to 7 with the opening stage planned at the imposing Lekhwiya Sports Club.
Al Naimi said earlier this year the Tour of Al Zubarah was discussed in detail during UCI meetings attended by Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al Thani, President of QCF. He said 14 teams from Europe, Asia and the Middle East will feature in the four-day event.
“This will be a new event in which national teams from the region and elsewhere will compete over four days. Qatari riders will also be part of the event. This event will give them yet another opportunity to scale new heights as riders,” Al Naimi said.
“This would be a great event for the riders from this region. The more races our riders do, the better it will be for them,” Al Naimi said. “The moment we confirmed the Tour of Zubarah, we were inundated with requests from many countries who wanted to send their riders for this event,” Al Naimi said.
Zubarah - also called Al Zubarah or Az Zubarah - is a ruined and deserted town located on the north western coast of the Qatar, about 105kms from Doha.
Al Naimi said Qatari riders returned from the UAE where they featured in the Tour of Sharjah. He said QCF has had informal discussions to stage the Tour of Sharjah and Tour of Zubarah within a couple of weeks to allow teams and cyclists getting to ride in the UAE and Qatar without having to break a bank.
“We could develop both Tours - the one in Sharjah and this one. We have had informal discussions about this during last week’s Tour of Sharha,” Al Naimi said.
“Next year we would be in a better position to work on this project. Year by year we should get bigger teams, more riders for both events,” he added.
Al Naimi said Qatari cyclists trained in Italy for a period of three months and took part in various races before the start of the new season. He said Qatar team did well in Tour of Sharjah which was held from November 22 to 25. The Qatar squad also featured in the Arab Cycling Championship which was held in Bahrain last month, Al Naimi said.
“We have grown immensely in the last few years. If we compare QCF to other cycling bodies in the region, we are very young. We just started in 2002 and look how quickly we have improved the overall structure of cycling. We have riders who have done well at the regional level,” Al Naimi said.
When asked about the decision to choose Al Zubarah as the Tour’s focal point, Al Naimi said: “We chose Zubarah because it is a World Heritage Site. This race will be an annual event. When teams and riders come and take part in our event, they will take back memories of Al Zubarah with them. Visitors to Qatar will pass on the word and we expect more people to see this place.” THE PENINSULA
