RIYADH, 15 February — Blain Reeves followed by Rob Patrick and winner Patrice Delile in bitterly cold conditions, 26 riders lined up for the first road race of the New Year, the Zahid Tractor-sponsored 60km race around a new circuit to the north of the capital.
Traveling up from Dhahran, French star Patrice Delile made it known that winning the championship is top of his priorities so it was no surprise that it was he who started the action after only 10 kilometers.
Quick to react were Wheelers strongman Blain Reeves, Jaime Sunga and George Morete and quickly a gap of a few seconds opened up between them and the chase pack. Climbing the only hill on the circuit, Sunga and Morete couldn’t hold the pace and dropped back, which was the signal for Rob Patrick to try and join the lead duo.
After a hard chase, Patrick made contact, albeit helped by a missing marshal which caused the leaders to briefly go off course.
Once together the trio worked well together and soon there was a large gap back to the fragmented pack, who in turn were embroiled in their own race.
Paul McParland although still not 100 percent fit proved to be the strongest and repeatedly broke away until 4th place was safely his for the taking.
Although a strong sprinter, Delile didn’t want to leave it to the end, so with 5 kilometers to go he put in a strong attack which got rid of his two companions, first Patrick then Reeves, leaving them to trail him home some seconds later.
The tactical battle back in the bunch resulted in a drop of pace which allowed most of the spread-out field to join up again, giving the sprinters the chance they were waiting for.
Of these it was Roger Western who impressed, showing an incredible turn of speed putting daylight between himself and rivals he’d never beaten before.
Experienced Mark Nelson and Marcus Escott had anticipated the frantic charge for the line and clipped off the front with 500 meters to go, giving the line judges, led by Mick Cook, an easier time to sort out the positions.
The cold weather obviously effected the muscles and many competitors complained of cramps and struggled to even finish, where they were then welcomed with refreshments provided by co-sponsors Coca Cola. Top mountain biker was new name Jeff Forester who came in ahead of best Cat B rider, evergreen K. Malone.
Results:
1st P. Delile 1h34m52s; 2nd B. Reeves @20s; 3rd R. Patrick @49s; 4th P. McParland @6m25s; 5th M. Nelson @7m56s; 6th M. Escott; 7th J. Sunga; 8th R. Western; 9th G. Morete; 10th J. Norton; 11th R. Platil; 12th N. Ibarra all same time.
