Aday Alvarez Diez de Ulzurrun of Carbon Wheels Racing and Isora Sosa Caballero claimed the men’s ‘A’ and women’s ‘A’ overall titles of the Royal Air Maroc Cycling League, which came to an exciting finish at the Losail International Circuit with Individual Time Trial, recently.
Aday Alvarez Diez de Ulzurrun finished fourth in the concluding leg but managed to bag the overall crown, while Chris Murrin of
Rasen Velostar earned a second place behind Giant RBS’ Glenn Bull and posted a superb runner-up finish.
Giant RBS rider Farhan Farizi, who led the series most of the season, came third as he could manage only a seventh place in the time trial.
Marouane Znagui of Qatar Chain Reaction finished outside the top 10 in the ITT, which helped him get the fourth place, while the overall top five was completed by Derek Brady of Rasen Velostar, who was sixth in the final run.
Nehad Kadry, who was sixth in the last round, emerged the champion in the Men’s B class. With the overall top positions being determined in this category, the main contenders did just enough to keep their places secured.
Rasen Velostar’s Gaspard Launet was seventh behind Kadry and got the overall second place. Shane Guinan was third, followed by Andrew Tangonan of Pinoy Roadies Qatar and Jaco Anderson. All the first five finishers in the Men’s B were not in the race for top overall spots. However, the race was won by Lee Bennett, a TriClub Doha cyclist, who posted 7:13 in the first lap and got 14:50 in the second. Andy Brown, Craig Tenner, Jim Pait and Christian Haneke finished in the same order.
Ahmad al Subaey of Losail Team won the ITT and grabbed the overall Men’s ‘C’ title as well. He clocked 7:34s in the first lap and followed it up with 15:45 to top the category. Grant Angus of Evergreen Organics and Oliver Guest of Rasen Sport grabbed the other places on the podium.
Behind Subaey in the overall standings was Roald Allan Alfonso of Pinoy Roadies Doha. Subaey’s teammate Abdulaziz al-Mohannadi was third, while Andy Adair of Qatar Chain Reaction and Najib Idrus landed the fourth and fifth places, respectively.
The overall Women ‘A’ crown was claimed by Carbon Wheels Racing’s Isora Sosa Caballero, who was second in the ITT, behind her teammate Julie Melville. Melville did well in both the laps and recorded 7:31s and 15:36s, respectively to top the race time sheets. Caballero managed 7:44 and 15:55. Perrine Fages was third and she also claimed the overall third spot.
MAD Triathlon’s Nerissa Usero won the Women ‘B’ class but in the overall standings, it was Pinoy Roadies Doha’s Bettina Zabat, who emerged the topper. She was followed by Giant RBS’ Geraldine Diaz, who managed a third spot in the ITT. Helena Corby, fourth in the race, claimed the overall third spot.
Country manager of Royal Air Maroc Adil Khalloufi was the chief guest at prize distribution function. Also present on the occasion was Qatar Cycling Federation (QCF) president Dr Mohammed al-Kuwari and secretary-general Jamal al-Kuwari.  
“Royal Air Maroc was proud to get a chance to involve the local communities in healthy and competitive activities through 10 rounds hard cycling. We enjoyed backing the event and I’m confident all the participants must have enjoyed contesting in different classes,” Khalloufi said.
QCF president Kuwari said, “It was long, hard but useful season for local cyclists. Response to the league was impressive. A big number of cyclists contested in the 10 rounds.
“We’re very delighted to have achieved the goals that we set in the beginning of the RAM League. But we’ve to keep working to raise the standards. The next season would be interesting after the success of the first year. One of our priorities would be to involve more young Qatari riders, who have potential to be our cycling future.”