More than 1,000 cycling enthusiasts from 57 countries, including senior Qatari officials, VIPs and diplomats, took part in the ‘Ride of Champions 2017’ at Qatar Foundation’s Education City on Friday.

Dubbed as ‘Qatar’s festival of cycling for the fast, first-timers and families', the event saw the participation of Emiri Diwan's adviser HE Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kuwari and Qatar’s cycling stars Abdullah al-Hammadi Ali bin Mohamed bin Towar al-Kuwari.
Also in action were ambassadors Dr Bahia Tahzib-Lie (Netherlands), Eric Chevallier (France) and Adrian Norfolk (Canada), among others.
“It was such as a pleasure to take part in the Ride of Champions. It’s really great to promote active and healthy lifestyle and it is fantastic, there are so many people who are interested to bike,” Dutch ambassador Dr Tahzib-Lie told Gulf Times.
“I’m representing my country, the Netherlands, and it is a biking nation, we have more bikes than people there,” she said. “Ninety-nine per cent of the people in the Netherlands they bike so we love it and we hope we will have more bike lanes and more bike parks in Qatar.”
“It is fantastic that this business is booming,” the envoy added.


Dutch ambassador Dr Bahia Tahzib-Lie took part in the Ride of Champions 2017. PICTURE: Joey Aguilar

Dr Tahzib-Lie described her biking the experience at the event as “very nice,” saying that sports like biking brings people together and a very important endeavor to promote peace and development in the world.
“We are all one humanity, and sports and culture demonstrate this and it brings people together and it is a very powerful force,” she stressed.
French ambassador Eric Chevallier shared the same view describing the Ride of Champions as “an amazing event” with a lot of people from many countries participating.
“Female, male, young, a bit less young, and so many people in a very good atmosphere and very friendly,” he said.
The event, presented by Qatar Tourism Authority, organised by the Qatar Cyclists and funded by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, featured a number of categories for participants.
‘Experienced riders’ took the 137.5km route (long) while ‘fit riders’ rode the 78km (standard). ‘Aspiring riders’ cycled the 48km route (short) while beginners and families with children nine years and older took the 5.8km route. Meanwhile, three to eight years old children enjoyed riding at the Oxygen Park.
Al Kass presenter Rhodri Williams, who also served as the master of ceremonies at the event, said the biking festival has been growing and attracting a large number of participants annually.
Apart from riding in a “fantastic weather,” he added that the Ride of Champions feature a hospitality area, which offers various foods and drinks, vegetable market, and bike shops.
Williams stressed that such endeavor, like international cycling competitions, help raise awareness on the importance of sport in the country.
“Maybe we’ll see more participants next year, increasing from 2,000 or more,” he said.