Dubai: Skydive Dubai’s rider Francisco Mancebo has called for a ‘professional approach’ to the sport if UAE cyclists are to benefit in the long run.
Mancebo was one of the heroes of the four-day Dubai Tour 2014 as he controlled the race on stages two and four as one of the breakaway leaders. On the ‘Sport Stage,’ Mancebo led throughout before being caught in the final 10 kilometres and it was a similar case in the final ‘Old Dubai Stage’ on Saturday.
Mancebo’s performance on the two days gave him second position with 11 points in the white jersey for intermediate sprints behind South Africa’s Willie Smit from the Vini Fantini team.
“It was important for our team Skydive Dubai to make an impression on the international stage,” the Spaniard told Gulf News. “The entire cycling world was watching as we moved ahead of the main peloton and this is the best way to announce our arrival.”
The newly formed Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team consists of a mix of nationalities including an Argentinean, a Tunisian, a Spaniard, a couple of Moroccans and UAE nationals. “The idea of course is to build this team into a world-class unit and the start has been made with this race,” said 37-year-old Mancebo, whose career highlights include a fourth place in the Tour de France and a second place in the Vuelta a Espana. “But what we would also need is to have the riders, especially the UAE cyclists, get more of an international exposure so that they can get into the professional mode of doing things by being part of the major tours.
“The Skydive team is a very important project, not just for the sport professionally, but also to spark a revolution in cycling in the country. It will work both ways and who knows, in two or three years you may find this team participating in the major UCI tours around the world.”
Meanwhile, UAE national team member Majid Al Beloushi reiterated that the bigger goal before the national squad is to get prepared for this year’s Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
“That is our target and this race was meant to kickstart our preparations,” Al Beloushi told Gulf News after finishing 107th overall from the 127 riders who participated in Dubai Tour 2014. “We have a good seven months before the Asian Games with a couple of important competitions in between that are meant to help us peak in time for Incheon.”
Next up for the UAE squad is the Gulf Cycling Championships in Oman in March, followed by the Asian Cycling Championships to be held in Uzbekistan in May. “We need to go step by step and I believe the Dubai Tour was the first step at getting ready for the Asian Games,” Al Beloushi said.
