Cyclists get taste of the race track

Manama : Participants taking part in the eagerly-anticipated Ironman 70.3 Middle East Championship got a first-hand experience of the track designed to host the cycling race, the second stage of the championship, scheduled to commence on December 10.

Setting out from the Four Seasons Hotel, spearheaded by HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, representative of His Majesty the King for Charity Works and Youth Affairs, Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, President of Bahrain Olympic Committee.

The race concluded near the BIC in Sakhir. It represented an opportunity for the cyclists to preview the track and work on designing suitable plans for the race. 

“It was a great practice, because it was held on the same track of the Ironman 70.3 Middle East Championship. The main goal was to give the participants the chance to test the track, and fully understand what they will face in the championship, and I believe this has been entirely fulfilled,” Shaikh Nasser said.

He expressed utmost appreciation to the Organising Committee members for their sincere preparation efforts ahead of holding the Ironman event and stressing that this shows their keenness to make this event a success and seeing so many Bahrainis registering to participate for the event. Several cyclists taking part in the event shared their happiness on experiencing the track. 

“The outcome was very positive, and it was very beneficial to race today,” participant Jamal Al Dosseri said.

Meanwhile, Hassan Al Qassam hailed the experience of racing on the cycle track, saying: “Personally, this was a very useful race for me, because I wanted to get a first-hand experience on the track and understand the level of the competitors.” 

For his part, contestant Mansour Maki of Bahrain Defence Force Team underlined that he was very keen to have this experience to study the track of cycle race.