The premier event on the Riyadh Wheelers cycling calendar was held at the weekend and thanks to generous sponsorship from ITEA and Carrefour Le Mall, riders from all over the Kingdom signed on for the prestigious 100km road race.

The course which was used for only the third time, finally showed its teeth thanks to a rising cross wind, which along with the endless undulations made it a long day in the saddle for some. An impressive 55 riders took to the start line and after a gentle neutral section the action started right away with some probing attacks from Filipino standout Norberto Daa, resulting in a four man break of Daa, Vincent Engel, Geron Guanlao and young Saudi Mohammed Ali being given some freedom, but thanks to some hard work from Martin Ball and Ben Psaila they were brought back to the pack before Daa made yet another attack, which this time was chased down by Ali, Engel, George Morete and Rob Patrick who put some daylight between themselves and the peloton.

Riding to team orders, Morete didn’t contribute to the chase, so inevitably the move lost momentum, resulting in Daa staying away to the line, giving him a very impressive victory. A small chase pack of 9 contested the sprint for second place, with young Ali taking it after surviving and recovering from a fall, from Kris Ahlin, Alex Carinan, Patrick, Edwin Seneres and Morete. All finishers were congratulated and winners received their prizes from ITEA executives and Carrefour Le Mall.

Results:

1 N. Daa, 2 M. Ali, 3 K. Ahlin, 4 A. Carinan, 5 R.Patrick, 6 E. Seneres, 7 G. Morete, 8 G. Guanlao, 9 B. Psaila, 10 V. Engel, 11 K. Bowers, 12 R. Minarro, 13 M. Ball, 14 J. Roetter, 15 D. Bennellick, 16 S. Gillespie, 17 J. Sunga, 18 R. De los Reyes, 19 G. Laurie, 20 P. McParland, 21 P. Olsson, 22 R. Chan, 23 S. Girardeau, 24 J. Altavas, 25 J. Javier, 26 M. Webb, 27 A. Taylor, 28 C. Castillo, 29 A. Alhashim, 30 R. Silvan, W-1 K. Taylor, 31 J. Garbutt, 32 A. Williams, 33 E. Lando, W-2 M. Araujo, 34 G. Scharke, 35 D. Petkovski, 36 D. Ella, 37 A. El Ahmad. DNF P. Kuba, E. Gabuco, R. Pedrosa, M. Saluta, R. Paluf, J. Jaruskova, S. Jenkins, D. Pottinger, P. Cullinan, T. Mahfouz, R. Allanigue, J. Kuba.

Categories (not in top 3): Open Alex Carinan, Veteran Martin Ball, Master Rob Patrick, Senior Paul McParland, Cat B Katy Taylor