Nigel Howell’s sub 9 minute course record remained safe for another year as 56 riders signed on for the dreaded Riyadh Wheelers Dirab Hill Climb.

With several of the favorites not starting, it was always going to be an open race, and when the winners were announced it came as no surprise that all three came from strong triathlon backgrounds, having just completed their season.

After coming close on many occasions, Martin Ball finally made the breakthrough to win a RW event, his slight but powerful build combining to record the best split on the steepest part of the climb. Kris Ahlin admitted he was surprised to take second from so many specialist climbers, but helped his cause no end by recording the fastest time to the foot of the climb, and in doing so also scored his best RW result.

A previous winner of this event, Alex Carinan, rode to a deserved 3rd place from compatriot George Morete, just ahead of Gerd Muetze, who posted his best result to date.

Riding his first event in Riyadh, Greg Donaghey, rode to an excellent 7th and made his time up with a very fast last section, as opposed to Brett Girven who gave it everything on the lower section but faded when gravity took over. Steve Jenkins saved some of his considerable power for the climb and recorded the 4th best time to take 6th overall. Katy Wilson is making a habit of winning the Cat B category, just edging out Jana Jaruskova and must by now have her eye on the Championship. Just getting to the top was an achievement for many who then enjoyed the descent back to the start and be welcomed by Carrefour Le Mall refreshments-perfect!

Results: 1 M.Ball 10:13, 2 K.Ahlin 10:27,3 A.Carinan 10:35, 4 G.Morete 10:42, 5 G.Muetze 10:45, 6 S.Jenkins 11:08, 7 G.Donaghey 11:18, 8 B.Girven 11:26, 9 V.Engel 11:30, 10 R.Patrick 11:31, 11 S.Tomlisson 11:43, 12 S.Gillespie 11:49, 13 F.Clays 12:21, 14 K.Walsh 12:22, 15 J.Kuba 12:34, 16 R.Gocian 12:37, 17 E.Seneres 12:37, 18 P.McParland 12:40, 19 E.Lando 12:45, 20 F.Clays 12:47, 21 A.Cuesta 12:50, 22 K.Opstaele 12:54, 23 E.Gabuco 12:55, 24 T.Sangarah 12:57, 25 A.Williams 13:21, 26 R.Bitong 13:22, 27 Y.Forero 13:23, 28 C.Carmichael 13:27, 29 P.Foster 13:32, 30 R.Chan 13:41, 31 S.Vientel 13:54, 32 J.Garbutt 14:20, 33 A.Al Hashim 14:21, 34 O.Al Marri 14:27, 35 M.Webb 14:28, 1 K.Taylor 14:46, 2 J.Jaruskova 14:54, 36 G.Morris 14:57, 37 B.Detomal 14:58, 3 M.Araujo 15:00, 38 M.Saluta 15:22, 39 R.Silvan 15:25, 40 J.Altavas 16:06, 41 M.Suckling 16:36, 42 C.Watters 17:41, 43 F.Requillo 18:11, 44 D.Ella 18:16, 45 R.Carreon 18:43, 46 R.Allanigue 20:24, 47 T.Mahfouz 21:36, 48 R.Paluf 24:02, 49 D.Thomas 24:37, 50 A.El Ahmad 25:55, 51 A.Bahaa 27:44. DNF D.Dela, M.Bahaa

Categories Open Alex Carinan, Veteran Martin Ball, Master G.Morete, Senior Jiri Kuba, Cat B Katy Wilson