Slovenian Gregor Sikosek on his way to winning the Al Adaid Desert Challenge.
Doha: “That was harder than an Ironman 70.3” is how one competitor described sixth running of the Al Adaid Desert Challenge at the weekend.
A view matched by Abderrahim Ghayour, the Moroccan who has won the last three editions of the running category.
“Much harder this year”, he claimed “More sand and softer and the wind was so strong.”
Ghayour’s time of 1:15:19 for the twenty kilometer run was certainly faster than his previous attempts but that was due to organisers cutting nine kilometers off the distance to take account of the hotter temperatures with the event being held one month later than usual.
Representing the new organisation team, Mubarak Al Mohannadi, Vice President of Qatar Cyclists Center explained, “We faced challenges from the corona pandemic and the speed of obtaining approval from the concerned authorities in organising the race on the planned date. But this race of running and off-road bikes across difficult desert terrain is one of our main focusses. We are glad to have been able to hold it after missing last year, even if it was short notice for competitors.”
For the same reason, the race didn’t feature on the UCI’s calendar this year. Nevertheless, Slovenian Gregor Sikosek made a return visit after placing second in 2020.
He completed the 32 kilometer mountain bike route in 1:28:56, finishing at the Al Majles Desert Resort almost seven minutes clear of Mouchine Rhaili with another visitor, Croatian Rapo Vedran placing third.
Four German sport management students visiting Qatar on a two-week exchange visit were glad to have discovered the challenge. Francesca Klein, who placed fourth in the women’s run, stating, “Yes! We loved it and would come back again for this. In fact, I now hope to work in Qatar after graduation.”
The race starts fast with racers forming packs and drafting like a in road race but in conditions such as on Friday, the race is decided on who is strong and has technique to ride the soft sand. No wonder then that one of the stand-out performances of the day came from Finnish Olympian, Pia Sundstedt. Pia easily won thewomen’s veteran mountain bike category but actually went faster than the third placed man.
WINNERS
Qatar MTB National Championship
Nayef Al Mesallam 1:42:32
MTB - Men
Gregor Sikosek 1:28:56
MTB Women
Carla Pregigueiro Dominguez 2:06:37
MTB Veteran Men
Mouhcine Rhaili 1:35:31
MTB - Veteran Women
Pia Sundstedt 1:40:03
Fat Bike - Men
Hamad Aljaaidi 1:44:36
Fatbike - Women
Leah Bernard Hulatt 2:03:30
Fat Bike - Veteran men
Leslie Brown 1:46:29
Run - men
Abderrahim Ghayour 1:15:19
Run - women
Daisy Baker 1:36:32
Run - veteran men
Chris Musungu 1:31:47
Run - veteran women
Sara Talia 1:34:17
Duathlon - Men
Mohamad Alsabbagh 2:10:42
Duathlon Women
Isobel Bushell 2:54:25
Duathlon veteran men
Ewan Cameron 2:57:48
Duathlon Veteran Women
Andrea Stadler 2:59:31
Boys U-12 MTB
Ruaridh Melville 0:07:20
