Dubai: Al Ahli riders produced a scintillating performance to claim the President's Cup after 12 long years in the season-ending UAE Cycling Championship race held in Bani Yas last weekend.
The red-shirted lads from Dubai were in dominant form as they filled the top five places in the individual category. Al Ahli's astonishing finish in the individual race earned them the top spot in the team standings to capture the cup.
Emirates Club of Ras Al Khaimah, led by Mohammad Al Murwwi, took the runners-up position with Al Arabi of Umm Al Quwain in third place.
Twenty-six-year-old Bader Mirza led Al Ahli's clean sweep in the 60-kilometre race, clocking 1 hour 38 minutes even as team mates Marwan Mattar and Khamis Saif finished with the same time to take second and third places respectively.
Defending champions Al Nasr were absent due to a dispute with the club's cycling management over bonus for winning a number of regional championships last season.
Bader Mirza, a UAE national team cyclist, said the absence of Al Nasr did not make any difference. "The race would have been competitive but I do not think the result would have changed. We prepared well for the championship and our target was to win the cup this time. All the top four finishers are in the national team and that gave us the edge," he said.
Mirza, who was a junior footballer with Al Khaleej of Khor Fakkan before switching to cycling, described the race as very easy. "There was no challenge from the other riders except from my teammates," Mirza said.
Veteran cyclist Humaid Mehrab who joined Al Ahli at the start of the just-concluded season as coach and rider, said helping his new club to win the cup was something special for him.
Results: 60km individual race: 1. Bader Mirza (Al Ahli) 1hour 38 minutes; 2. Marwan Matar (Al Ahli); 3. Khamis Saif (Al Ahli). Team standings: 1. Al Ahli; 2. Emirates Club; 3. Al Arabi.
