Gulf Times
Fadhel al-Khater retained the National Time Trial Championship title, which he has made his own over the four editions which the event has been run.
Al-Khater (Rasen Adventure Shop) has repeatedly proven himself Qatar’s strongest time trialist and has been the only representative at a World Championships in the eight years since they came to Doha in 2016.
Time trialling is an all-out speed test. A winning time of 36 minutes 23 seconds at an average speed of 46kph over the 28 kilometre course put al-Khater almost a minute clear of nearest rival, Ahmed Albourdainy (Team Doha cycling). Abdullah al-Jaaidi, also from Team Doha Cycling, took third place.
The event showed uptick in interest in competitive cycling from the nation’s women. The seven strong women’s field was the largest ever at a national championship. Noor al-Jaber (Vélo Mafia) was first to occupy the leader’s ‘hot seat’ and remained there throughout the evening as Tala Abujbara and Sheikha al-Suwaidi (Team Doha Cycling) failed to unseat her.
Qatar Cycling Federation is assisting the development of riders with a view to having women compete at the GCC Games in Kuwait in May In the Open Race, Jonathan Parker (Team Botrill C-bear) and Pia Sundstedt (Rasen Adventure Shop) have been as dominant in the discipline as Fadhel al-Khater. Each retained their title for another year.
RESULTS (TOP 3)
Men: 1. Fadhel al-Khater (Rasen Adventure Shop) 36’23.2; 2. Ahmad Elbourdainy (Team Doha Cycling) 37’21.7; 3. Abdullah al-Jaaidi (Team Doha Cycling) 37’33.7
Women: 1. Noor al-Jaber (Vélo Mafia) 50’21.5; 2. Tala Abujbara 51’00.3; 3. Sheikha al-Suwaidi (Team Doha Cycling) 54’32.3
Masters: 1. Mohamed al-Khelaifi (Team Doha Cycling) 44’37.9; 2. Marwan al-Maraghi (Team Doha Cycling) 48’24.6; 3. Faisal al-Marri (Team Doha Cycling) 49’22.5
Open Men: 1. Jonathan Parker (UK, Team Bottrill C-Bear) 35’38.0; 2. Guillaume Soutter (FRA; Team Al Jassra) 36’18.1; 3. Diego Hossfeldt Gonzalez (MEX; Rasen Adventure Shop) 36’39.0
Open Women: 1. Pia Sundstedtfin (Rasen Adventure Shop) 42’20.7; 2. Isobel Bushelluk (Team Doha Cycling) 43’54.8; 3. Daniela Sposi (Rasen Adventure Shop) 44’42.4
Open Veteran: 1. Fabien Escomel 40’19.9; 2. Ewan Cameron (TriClub Doha) 42’42.4; 3. Simon Halford 42’48.2
Junior: 1. Mohamed Iman Hafizi Bin Hasmin Mas (Rasen Adventure Shop) 41’11.4; 2. Aditya Prasetyo (Rasen Adventure Shop) 41’50.6; 3. Meshal al-Ghamdi (Ghariya Triathlon Club) 54’07.1
Youth: 1. Hafiz Sali Phi (Rasen Adventure Shop) 22’07.5; 2. Abdulhadi al-Maraghi (Team Doha Cycling) 23’07.8; 3. Younes Abdalgane (Rasen Adventure Shop) 23’42.7