Muscat: Omani rider Saeed al Rahbi of Elite Team clinched the opening honours of Oman Cycling Association (OCA) 2025-26 League road races at the weekend.
Al Rahbi claimed the top spot in two hours 19 minutes and 55 seconds in the 97 km race at the Al Sawadi Beach area on Friday. It
CycleKom’s Mohammed al Wahibi (2:19:55) took the second position while another Omani cyclist Munther al Hassani (2:20:27) finished third to make a double podium for Elite Team.
CycleKom’s Daniel Baldwin of Great Britain (2:20:27) came in fourth place while another British rider David Hynes of Vikings (2:21:39) finished fifth.
Elite Team’s Mazin al Riyami (2:21:39) was sixth, Talal al Maskari (2: 21:42) of Adventure Box Team came in seventh and Christopher Keyes (2:21:42) of Vikings finished eighth.
HAZAA TOPS U23 SECTION
Hazaa al Habsi of Fulltank Team (2:21:56) and Assad al Habsi of Elite Team (2:21:56) ended in ninth and tenth positions respectively. Hazaa al Habsi also became the top rider in the Under-23 section.
A total of 46 riders took part in the opening race of the OCA League while three cyclists didn’t finish.
In the Under-23 section, Hazaa topped the standings followed by Amjad al Tooqi (2:21:56) of Adventure Box Team and Riyadh al Sheyadi (2:21:56) of Brothers Team.
In the M40+ category, Daniel Baldwin (CycleKom), David Hynes (Vikings) and French rider Jan-Jap Gerrards (2:21:56) of Wave Rider/Qurum Cyclists occupied the top three positions.
In the team category after the first race, Elite Team were in front with 295 points. CycleKom were second with 240 points and Vikings were third with 150 points.
Adventure Box Team (146), Wave Riders/Qurum Cyclists (99), Fulltank (84), Izki Club (71), Fullgaz Team (51) and Brothers Team (33 points) were the other six teams’ in the race.
JOANNA WINS WOMEN'S RACE
In the Women’s League, the opening race for 80 km was won by Joanna Buchholtz of Great Britain (1:35:10). Reem al Harthy of Oman (1:54:37) claimed second spot while Jelena Walker (2:24:24) of Canada finished third ahead of fourth rider in the competition, Samantha Cole of the USA (2:24:23).
In the Junior League, Muayad al Hasani (1:58:42) came first in the 80 km race followed by Anas Awlad Ahmed and Abdullah al Durai in the second and third positions with the same time.
In the Cadets League race for 32 km, Ahmed al Kulaibi (00:57:54) emerged winner with Zulfiqar al Shizawi and Mohammed al Wahibi taking second and third spots respectively in the same time.
The next race of the OCA League will be a 96 km contest in Wakan.
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