Qatar cyclists Ahmed Elbourdainy and Abdullah al-Jaidi clinched first and second positions respectively in the opening prologue time trial at the Tour of Salalah road race in Oman.
Elbourdainy completed the 6km race in 7 minutes 49.8 seconds with just over one second separating him from third place - Khaled Mahouf (UAE National Team). Fifth placed Bilal al-Saadi leads the U-23 competition.
Qatar is competing against national teams from other GCC countries, with Oman fielding 10 teams in the event. The prologue stage is the opener for the four-day, 320km race, which will conclude on Friday.
The coming days are expected to be a real test for Team Qatar riders with all stages spanning over 100 kilometres. The five-rider Qatar team recently returned from their summer training camp in Slovenia and is well prepared for the event.
Salalah hosted the first Tour of Salalah cycling event under the banner of Oman Cycling Association (OCA). Organisers yesterday said they were ready to host around 150 participants in the race. All the GCC countries except for Kuwait are competing in the event.
Qatar’s Abdullah al-Jaidi (back row left), Ahmed Elbourdainy (centre) and the UAE’s Khaled Mahouf celebrate on the podium.
