Muscat: There is a place where barren landscape meets ocean and flamingoes grace the desert wadi’s. A land where the culture is shroud in mystery and the eyes are the only window to the should. Welcome to Oman, the geographical centre for BikingMan’s first foray into the middle east.
Cyclists from 22 countries were gathered, some with history in similar events and others with none, all joined by one thing, a quest for adventure and a willingess to explore their passion of pushing to the absolute limits.
An unprecedented bicycle adventure race The inaugural edition of BikingMan Oman, a 1.000km long self-supported ultra cycling race around the
Sultanate was completed on March 1, 2018 at 5pm when the last two athletes arrived at the finish line in old Muscat. 45 athletes from 21 different countries completed the race in less than 120 hours. They had to manage on the race course their own food, water and sleeping time without any form of outside assistance.
The race started at the Al Nahda resort in Barka, and finished at the old incense burner in old Muscat. The athletes rode west around the Hajar Mountains, then climbed up to the first checkpoint at the Jebel Shams resort, at 2.000m asl.
After stamping their progression, they descended back down the mountain, rode south east towards the 2nd checkpoint outside Bidiya, continued to the coast, turned north towards Sur then rode back along the coast to old Muscat.
Oman is kicking off the BikingMan 2018 race series.
The BikingMan race series is the first of its kind bringing athletes to the desert of Oman, the forest and mountains of Corsica, through the Andes in Peru and finally into tropical climate in Asia. This is the ultimate endurance adventure for athletes that are ready to test themselves in all kinds of terrain and weather conditions. The athletes need to handle fuelling, accommodation and repair on their own. Outside support and riding in a pack are forbidden. Athletes must race as solo or pair riders. The race series is not only aimed at Explore Endure Empower of cyclists, but endurance athletes in general such as ultra-runners, triathletes, mountain bikers and adventure racers.
Results
The female SOLO category was won by Italian Juliana Buhring, who completed the race in 49h 53min. The men’s SOLO category was won by Rodney Soncco from Peru, who completed the race in 46h 17min. The TEAM category was won by Team Army Oman, consisting of local athletes Mohamed Awad Obaid Al — Shandoudi and Hatem Hamdan Hammad Alboushri in 71h 30min.
Top 10 Overall 2018 :
1. Rodney Soncco, Peru. 46h 17min
2. Josh Ibbett, United Kingdom, 49h 43min
3. Juliana Buhring, Italy, 49h 53min
4. Paul Albaek, Denmark, 49h 55min
5. Niel Copeland, United Kingdom, 54h 30min
6. Carl Simmons, United Kingdom
7. Jason Black, Ireland
8. Rafeeq Safoodien, South Africa,
9. Marcel Esser, The Netherlands,
10. Jacques Le Roux, South Africa,
The official prize ceremony will be held at the Grand
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