RIYADH, 16 November — In conjunction with proud sponsors Zahid Tractor, Riyadh Wheelers once again put on a weekend of racing that would be the envy of any cycling club. The action-packed 2-day, 3 stages event attracted top riders from around the Kingdom, including last year’s winner, Saudi star Abdulaziz Shahrani. The racing got under way with a 1 hour Criterium which tests the bike skills and fitness of the riders around a very tight circuit, made all the more difficult by having one the biggest fields to ever start a Wheelers event. In all 52 riders were flagged away by Zahid Tractor’s Charlie Dryden, normally a competitor but this time under orders from his personal trainer and taking a spectators seat.
From the first lap, the Dhahran team of Patrice Delile, Christiaan Beyers and L. Beyers showed they hadn’t traveled to Riyadh just to make up the numbers and immediately starting attacking the field, each one in turn until a clear break had been made. Unfortunately non of the Riyadh riders were with them and once clear of the pack the race for third place unfolded, with Shahrani especially active. Into the final bend a group of 6 were all in with a chance and crossed the line just seconds apart, some half a minute behind the two leaders.
1st P.Delile; 2nd C.Beyers; 3rd A.Shahrani; 4th R.Patrick; 5th C.Small; 6th G.Robards; 7th P.McParland; 8th R.Lewis; 9th M.Nelson; 10th S.Callus; 11th H.Rom; 12th M.Escott.
The short Stage 2 time trial is sometimes considered by the riders to be the hardest test and this year was no exception. Just 4km in length, this type of racing requires special skills and can often upset the favorites, as seen in many Tour de France stages. Riyadh this time took their revenge over the Dhahran team and came out on top, with Rob Patrick riding his special machine to overcome the challenge of strongman Blain Reeves and Shahrani. Best of the visitors, Delile was 4th, setting the scene for a very exciting final stage which followed soon after.
1st R.Patrick; 2nd B.Reeves; 3rd A.Shahrani; 4th P.Delile; 5th eq M.Nelson, G.Robards; 7th S.Callus; 8th C.Beyers; 9th P.McParland; 10th C.Small; 11th J.Sunga; 12th J.Oswald. The third and final stage was eagerly anticipated by the large crowd who had worked out that there were 3 riders, Delile, Shahrani and Patrick still with a chance of overall victory, depending on their placings in this last stage. Beyers and Delile had also done their homework knowing that if Delile came first or second and stayed ahead of Patrick and Shahrani then victory was his. Throwing everything into the attack, the Dhahran boys once again played the classic “one two” and broke away from the pack, leaving a chase group of 6. After the untimely retirement of Blain Reeves the chasers lost all momentum and Delile came home the deserved 2-Day winner after graciously giving the stage victory to his young teammate Beyers. Shahrani, Patrick, Herbert Rom and Jaime Sunga crossed the line in that order with Patrick taking 2nd overall from Shahrani on count back. Great rides by Colin Small and Simon Callus bode well for the future with also L. Beyers handing out a rare defeat to L. Pentlebury in the Cat B stakes.
Top veteran for the first time was popular Dong Del Rosario with the masters title taken by Paul McParland who looks set to dominate this category for a long time to come. A great weekend came to a close with a lunch and prize presentation supported by Zahid Tractor and Coca Cola.
1st C.Beyers; 2nd P.Delile; 3rd A.Shahrani; 4th R.Patrick; 5th H.Rom; 6th J.Sunga; 7th C.Small; 8th R.Lewis; 9th G.Robards; 10th S.Callus; 11th P.McParland; 12th M.Escott.
Final overall results: 1st P.Delile; 2nd R.Patrick; 3rd A.Shahrani; 4th C.Beyers; 5th G.Robards; 6th C.Small; 7th S.Callus; 8th P.McParland; 9th H.Rom; 10th R.Lewis; 11th M.Escott; 12th E.Seneres.
