Young Saudi almost causes upset in Howell Memorial Hill Climb

A regular event on the Riyadh Wheelers calendar and one which puts fear into the most experienced of riders is the Nigel Howell Memorial Hill Climb.
Although only 5km in length, the race requires precise effort control and usually takes a few attempts before it is perfected. After 4km of gradual incline, the final kilometer rears up at over 12% and usually has the riders unable to stand at the end as they fight for breath. This was the event where it was thought club champion, Thierry Mathy, would be put under pressure as the lighter climbing specialist came into their own.
It was not to be, however, despite the best efforts of climbing specialists, top Saudi Sultan Asiri and Javier Villalobos from the mountainous regions of southern Asir and Spain respectively, who had to yield to the sheer power of Mathy.
Another classy Saudi rider, experienced Nasser Al Mutrad took a fine 4th with a great climb split ahead of established stars, Pascal Cudey, Vince Engel, Bruno Syfrig and Martin Ball, who all recorded sub-11 minute rides.
The next 60 seconds contained 8 riders, with Kris Ahlin and Darren Bennellick at either end of the minute. Bennellick, in particular, put in a good performance considering this was his first event in the Kingdom but admitted to having ridden in the past. Only 10 seconds separated the top Pinoy in the absence of Bert Daa; Alex Carinan just getting the better of Geron Guanlao and new Master George Morete.
Cat B was a formality for Veronique Mathy, but a promising ride on a heavy mountain bike was put up by first timer, Tarah Bremner, who will be a force to reckon after delivery of her road bike. Moving up the results are Stuart Gillespie and Andy MacLaughlan who are reaping the benefit of some hard training rides. Abdulmajid Bahaa wisely rode his mountain bike while Thomas Cudey went unchallenged in the Junior category. Howell's record of 8:58 remained safe for another year.
Results:
1 T. Mathy 09:25, 2 S. Asiri 09:45, 3 J. Villalobos 10:13, 4 N. Al Mutrad 10:24, 5 P. Cudey 10:27, 6 V. Engel 10:33, 7 B. Syfrig 10:33, 8 M. Ball 10:52, 9 K. Ahlin 11:04, 10 J. Kuba 11:29, 11 A. Carinan 11:29, 12 G. Guanlao 11:33, 13 G. Morete 11:39, 14 S. Waight 11:43, 15 R. Patrick 11:53, 16 D. Bennellick 11:57, 17 S. Jenkins 12:06, 18 A. Maniago 12:09, 19 P. McParland 12:36, 20 S. Gillespie 12:44, 21 A. MacLachlan 12:48, 22 A. Williams 12:51, 23 T. Watts 13:02, 24 D. Wright 13:08, 25 A. Cuesta 13:25, 26 K. Walsh 13:25, 27 E. Gabuco 13:32, 28 P. Foster 13:35, 29 J. Torrontegui 13:40, 30 J. Sunga 13:50, 31 N. Gibson 13:55, 32 J. Flores 14:08, 33 E. Lando 14:13, 34 R. Bitong 14:17, 35 M. Lincoln 14:20, 1 V. Mathy 14:23, 36 E. Seneres 14:35, 37 N. Ibarra 14:41, 38 J. Garbutt 14:49, 39 H. Rom 15:09, 40 M. Webb 15:10, 41 C. Morelos 15:46, 42 P. Green 15:46, 43 L. Estera 16:04, 44 F. Requillo 16:09, 45 M. van Maastreicht 16:54, 46 K. Pickles 16:59, 47 D. Petkovski 17:16, 48 M. Molina 17:21, 2 T. Bremner 17:37, 3 M. Araujo 17:53, 49 J-M. Saluta 18:12, 50 J. Cortez 19:37, 51 T. Mahfoaz 21:37, 52 A. Bahaa 22:01, 53 R. Catoneon 22:18, 54 D. Del Rosario 22:30, 55 T. Cudey 27:00, 56 D. Dela 27:37.
Others DNF R. Pedrosa, DNS R. Minarro.
Categories: Open Sultan Asiri, Veteran Thierry Mathy, Master George Morete, Senior Bruno Syfrig, CAT B Veronique Mathy, Junior Thomas Cudey