Over 320 amateur cyclists turned out yesterday morning for Dubai’s newest cycling event, the Dubai Gran Fondo.
This is the first time a UCI World Cycling Tour event has been held in the Middle East, and organisers were delighted with the success of the inaugural event.
The Dubai Gran Fondo is the third event on this year’s UCI World Cycling Tour, a series of road races held around the world.
The tour consists of 13 UCI-sanctioned races which also serve as qualifying events for the UCI World Amateur Championships in Denmark in September.
Yesterday’s race attracted competitors from across the region as well as a huge number of international cyclists, who competed in 8 different age group categories for men and women. The 125km race started at the Al Qudra cycle park, and wound around the streets of Dubai.
“This event would not have happened without the full support of the Dubai Sports Council, the UAE Cycling Federation and most importantly the Dubai Police ,RTA and the Dubai ambulance service. We wanted a route that would be challenging for the cyclists with minimal public disruption and the Dubai Police and the RTA have been incredible in their organisation and support. The number of international competitors was fantastic ” said Donal Kilalea of the organisers Promoseven Sports Marketing.
“Dubai’s cycling calendar is expanding rapidly, and the addition of this event is an important step in the development of amateur cycling in Dubai. We have so many keen cyclists here, and it is fantastic to give them the opportunity to represent their countries on the world stage.
The first woman over the line was Nicolien Luijsterburg of the Netherlands, while the first male was UAE cyclist Bader Thani.
The top 25% of finishers in each age group have now qualified for the World Championships which will be held in Denmark on 3-6 September.
For the full list of results go to www.premiertiming.com
For any enquiries regarding the event, call Promoseven Sports Marketing on +971 4 321 0008, or go the Facebook page Dubai Gran Fondo – UCI World Cycling Tour.
