The first road race of the Riyadh Wheelers season came as a shock to many as the effort required to counter the constant attacks and change of pace took their toll.

As in the first event, new names stormed through the leader board which had some of the established stars wondering how they were going to counter this surge of enthusiasm and fitness.

The race also welcomed Saad Al Abdallah who once the neutral section was over teamed up with compatriot Nasser Al Mutrad and broke away, a move that only Thierry Mathy was able to counter.

This Saudi Belgium 'express train' soon put some distance between themselves and the pack, which due to the windy conditions were reluctant to chase, expecting the leaders to be brought back.

As is often the case, this was not to be with a lot of strong riders missing due to the holidays, and with 20km to go to the finish, Mathy decided not to risk a sprint finish and broke away using his considerable time trialing abilities to good effect.

Saad was able to hold on to a fine second place with the bunch breathing down his neck. Forced off the road in the last event held on this course, Dave Wright made amends by sprinting to third ahead of Stuart Elliot, Scott Waight and John Hymns, all posting their best results ever in RW events. With so many top riders away the podium could change again in the next event, a 25 mile time trial. Cat B winner Zena Hymns, hopes to complete a full season this year and should be pushing for top honors if she continues to perform like this.

RESULTS 1 T. Mathy, 2 S. Alabdallah,3 D. Wright,4 S. Elliott,5 S. Waight,6 J. Hymns,7 G. Guanlao,8 J. Sunga,9 N. Al Mutrad,10 A. Maniago,11 R. Delos Santos,12 A. Williams,13 J. Kuba,14 R. Patrick,15 J. Mirasol,16 K. Walsh,17 N. Daa,18 G. Lawrie,19 G. Morete,20 R. Chan,21 A. Wild,22 M. Garth,23 M. Webb,24 M. Lincoln,25 M. Valdez,26 A. Guamos,27 J. Altavas,28 F. Gregorio,29 B. Detomal,30 A. Carinan,31 J. Javier,32 J. Hazlewood,W-1 Z. Hymns,33 T. Eleosida,34 R. Bitong,W-2 J. Jaruskova,35 R. Silvan,36 M. Suckling,37 F. Requillo,38 N. Diaz,39 D. Petkovski,W-3 A. Wild,40 O. Tuazon,41 D. Dela,42 T. Mahfouz,43 R. Paluf,44 R. Flores,45 A. Elioneri,W-4 M. Flores,DNF D. Conception.

CATEGORIES OPEN Saad Al Abdallah, VETERAN Thierry Mathy, MASTER John Hymns, SENIOR Jiri Kuba, CAT B Zena Hymns