The UCI Road World Championships Doha 2016 is just three weeks away. The event, pinnacle of the cycling season, is also set to become a milestone for cycling in the Middle East, a region that has been creating its own sport culture this century.
It’s been three years since the UAE’s Al Alhi Sports Club created the SkyDive Dubai cycling team.
Enrolled in the team as captain is Paco Mancebo (1976, Navaluenga – Avila). In the past decade, the Spanish rider has stood on the podium of the biggest cycling events in the world, such as the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana.
After fulfilling his sporting goals, Mancebo has worked to help the growth of cycling in countries where it is in the early stages of development.
Over these years, Mancebo has perceived that cycling in the region has improved “one step at a time. Every season the level of both riders and races is a bit higher. The fact that this year we are holding the first UCI Road World Championships in Doha, and in 2017 the first ever UCI WorldTour events will take place in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, is quite telling.”
The Spanish rider points to the geography and the climate of the Middle East as key factors for the development of cycling in the region. “Pedalling in the Middle East is quite pleasant during autumn and winter.”
Notwithstanding, he acknowledges that any Middle-Eastern rider willing to make it to the top level of the sport needs “to jump over the cultural barrier and settle himself in any of the sport’s heartlands,” as the Qatari national team has done these last few months. “Luckily, they are already doing it. Several Middle-Eastern riders are already capable of performing in the world’s best races.”
Mancebo has noticed a gradual yet meaningful improvement in the cycling scene in the region. “Every year there is more racing. We are getting to a point where a team will be able to do its full racing schedule in the region, thus being less expensive than in the current situation where it has to travel abroad to race. This will favour the creation of more teams and the professionalization of more riders as a consequence.”
Mancebo considers the upcoming UCI Road World Championships Doha 2016 as a landmark event for Middle-Eastern cycling. “It is going to be awesome, very different to any previous UCI RWC, with pan-flat courses where the crosswinds are going to be a deciding factor. It will not only portray the growth of cycling in the Middle East, but showcase the beauties of Qatar before the whole world.”
