Mirza clinches title; Roman van Uden wins final stage

Members of the Austrian team, which won the team championship, pose with concluding stage winners and Qatar Cycling Federation officials after the end of the inaugural Tour of Zubarah cycling race yesterday. Pictures: Anas al-Samaraee

By Yash Mudgal/Doha

Tour of Sharjah winner, Roman van Uden of Kazma Team, won yesterday's concluding stage, his third podium finish in the four-day tour as he clocked 2:44.40s. But 25-year-old Mirza negotiated the 22-lap 120.7km course at Masaieed to retain his place at the top of the standings.

Following a decent Tour of Sharjah, where he won a stage and finished overall fourth, Mirza braved the strong wind and bruises he received in a crash during the second stage to finish a creditable second.

Mirza’s victory is his first major win outside home and he was naturally delighted: “I am happy to win my first title outside UAE. The credit for the victory goes to entire UAE team.

“I can’t win everything… I am happy to finish second on the podium and keep the yellow jersey. It was a tough competition with some top European riders in fray… They are really very good.”

After a near-perfect leadout from his Kazma teammates, Roman sprinted away from Mirza and Gregor Muhlberger of Austria, who finished third, in a flat-out dash to the finish line to claim the concluding stage.

The Auckland rider’s victory was his third stage win in the region this year. Roman had won the Tour of Sharjah with two stage wins recently. “It is very satisfying to win a stage here. I was very close to the stage victory yesterday... but I am happy to win it at last,” Roman said.

When asked about his plan after the finishing his job in the region, he said: “It was a good outing for me. I won the Tour of Sharjah and had a good outing here also. It was a good inaugural tour and I hope I will be back here next year again.”

Qatar team’s Ahmed Elbourdainy, who suffered a crash during the prologue of the tour but put up a brave show during the first two stages, was a bit disappointed as he finished 48th on the general classification.

“It was a disappointing end to our campaign. We were aiming for a stage victory here, but the conditions were tough... It was very windy too. The competition was also good as we were facing some strong European opponents.”

Elbourdainy, who was Qatar’s best hope for a stage victory on the tour, however sounded optimistic for the future. “I fought well for the podium on the stage two, but I missed out by a fraction of a second. I feel it was a good finish. I will give my best to bring laurels for Qatar in my next assignment,” he said.

Qatar team coach Branko Filip felt lack of experience cost them dear. “It was not a good day for us. Ahmed was in the breakaway before the wind came in, but our overall team work was very poor. We have good riders, but we are lacking in experience which is costing us a lot.

“I feel we need more riders to improve our quality. If we have a bigger number of riders, then we can expect to improve. As I said before, our riders need more experience and it can come only through participation in more races,” he said.