Ali Awad Mussabah Al Ketbi of the UAE and Helle Bachofen Von Echt of Denmark won the men’s and women’s 75km cycling races held as part of the Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Ramadan Sports Tournament.

Representing the Trek UAE team, Al Ketbi finished the 75km race in a time of 1:47:20, while Von Echt completed the distance in 2:00:12 hours.

Hassan Al Mazrouei, the tournament director, was the chief guest along with Osama Al Shaffar, President of UAE Cycling Federation in presenting the winners with medals after the race.

With a gentle breeze blowing, the race started off from the Falcon Heritage Centre and made its way around the Meydan Racecourse on five loops of 15kms each.

During the initial moments, there were attempts by individuals to break away from the main group, but somehow all the riders stayed in a cluster until the very end.

On the final loop, Al Ketbi, Ali Al Baloushi, Ahmed Al Ali, Rashid Ali and Majid Al Jahowari broke away while another small pack of riders consisting of Jassim Al Muhairi, Khalid Al Suwaidi, Nayef Al Marzooqi and Ahmed Al Marri kept pace with the leaders.

However, entering into the straight leading to the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex it was just Al Ketbi and Al Baloushi heading towards the finish line, each waiting for the other to start off with the final sprint.

And eventually when they did go in for the final dash it was Al Ketbi who came up with a strong finish to win his first-ever competitive race.

“This is such a special moment for me,” said Al Ketbi after the victory.

“I have never participated in such competitive races as it is less than two years since I have started training. This is a huge push for me to take this sport more seriously as I can see myself developing in the next few years.”

The women’s race was not devoid of excitement. With a couple of teams of UAE junior and senior cyclists also in the mix, the lead continued to change until a final burst from Von Echt saw her take top honours.

“This is the third time in three years that I am participating in this race,” said Von Echt. “I was determined to win it this time after two disappointments in the past couple of years. In the first year I was involved in a crash and last year I finished second last as I was fatigued after over-training. But this year everything fell in place and I am so thrilled to be on the podium at last.”