Cycle KOM’s Mohammed al Wahibi took the leader’s red jersey after winning the second race of Oman Cycling Association (OCA) League Championship 2023-24 on Friday.
Mohammed came top in one hour 44 minutes and 41 seconds in the 97 km race at the Airport Loop in Seeb.
In a close finish, former champions Oman Royal Army’s Said al Rahbi and Salalah Club’s Mundher al Hasani claimed second and third positions respectively with the same time of 1:44:41.
Oman Royal Army’s Mohammed al Shandoudi finished fourth while Salalah Club’s Mazin al Riyami was fifth ahead of Oman Club’s Islam Ayad – all in the same time.
Cycle KOM, led by Paul Willcox, had won the opening race of OCA League on October 5.
The Cycle KOM captain said it was a great start for their red jersey favourite Mohammed al Wahibi.
“The Airport Loop circuit is flat and fast. On Friday, it was without much wind that made it tricky for any clear breakaways. Mohammed is our red Jersey favourite and also a strong sprinter. So, without a break our fall back plan was to line-up on the front as a team for the final few kilometres for it to be fast and keep him for the sprint finish. This we did and Mohammed finished it off in style,” the British cyclist told Oman Daily Observer.
In the 40 plus category, Saud al Mandhari of Bahla Club (1:44:41) came top ahead of Paul Willcox of Cycle KOM (1:44:41).
In the Under-23 category, winner Mohammed al Wahibi, Mundher al Hasani and Islam Ayad finished in the top three spots respectively.
In the team section, Oman Royal Army collected 260 points, Salalah (250 points) and Cycle KOM gained 166 points in the second race.
AL WAHIBI ON TOP
In the overall classification after the first two races, Al Wahibi led with 120 points ahead of Said al Rahbi (110 points) of Oman Royal Army in second. Salalah Club’s Mundher al Hasani is third with 100 points.
In U23, Al Wahibi, Al Hasani and Ayad (75 points) claimed the top three positions respectively.
In the 40 plus, Saud al Mandhari (30 points) led ahead of Willcox (24) and Mohammed al Kindi (21) of Bahla Club in third.
In the team level, Salalah Club topped after the second race with 480 points. Oman Royal Army (470) were second and Cycle KOM (416) were third.
Willcox and his teammates had raced to the top in the season-opening team time trial at Al Sawadi in Barka.
CycleKOM – NRO clocked 57 minutes 16 seconds to top the 48 km race competed by 13 teams.
Salalah Club came second (00:59:41) while Oman Royal Army (00:59:54) took a close third spot.
CycleKOM are winning the team time trial race for the fourth straight time in the OCA League.
CycleKOM featured a strong team line-up of captain Willcox, Oman national team rider Mohammed al Wahibi, Hashim al Farsi, Greg Pollard and David Hynes.
A total of 130 cyclists from 15 teams are in action in three categories for the season-long league.
The Open category winner’s red jersey is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, while the 40 plus winner will get a green jersey by Oman Cycling Association and the under-23 winner’s white jersey is sponsored by Badr al Samaa.
The third race of OCA League 2023-24 returns to Al Sawadi for a 110 km road race on November 10.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
