Dubai: Nearly 200 budding cyclists aged between 11 and 16 recently completed a three week UAE Team Emirates Youth Academy programme, racking up a collective 1,000-km during 10 hours of pedalling on exercise bikes.
Sessions were designed to replicate the conditions of one of the 21 stages of the Tour de France, and saw participants burn over 25,000 calories while climbing the equivalent of 2,000 metres.
UAE Team Emirates manager Mauro Gianetti said: “This was an extremely important initiative for the team, that helped show our commitment to developing the sport in the UAE.
“To have almost 200 youngsters on indoor bikes is amazing, but to see their spirit and determination to cycle that far is really something to be proud of.
“We must now look at how we can develop the youth academy to reach even more youngsters across the UAE, and who knows, maybe we can find and develop the next Yousuf Mirza,” he said in reference to the current UAE champion.
The last youth academy session coincided with UAE Team Emirates’ Alexander Kristoff winning stage 21 on the final day of the Tour de France, where teammate Dan Martin also confirmed a top 10 general classification finish and took the award for most combative rider. For more information visit www.uaeteamemirates.com