Nizwa set for fifth stage of OCA Championship

MUSCAT, JAN 7 Omani cyclist Mundher al Hasani will look to catch up with the leader Paul Wilcox when Nizwa hosts the fifth stage of Oman Cycling Association (OCA) Championship 2020-21 on Friday. The three-lap fifth stage will be run for a distance of 123 kilometres, which is the longest distance for the stages of the championship, with the participation of 145 cyclists in different sections. The riders will compete in open, youth, under-23, masters class and over 40 years old. In open category for Omantel jersey, Willcox of United Kingdom leads with 233 points after four stages but Ahli Sidab’s Mundher al Hasani has come within a touching distance of Willcox with 230 points. Willcox also leads the 40 plus category for the Sohar International Jersey with 190 points. Polish rider Szczepan Pietruska is second with 130 points and Ayman al Wahebi is third with same points. Another U-23 rider Abdullah al Ghilani of Arsen Endurance is overall third with 216 points. Ahli Sidab A’s Saud al Mandhari (Elite) is fourth with 196 points and U-23 rider Mohammed al Wahibi, winner of the third stage, is fifth with 177 points. ABDULLAH IN FRONT Abdullah al Ghilani is the overall leader in the U-23 category for Bank Nizwa jersey with 170 points. Mundher al Hasani is second with 165 points and Waleed al Fahdi is third with 145 points. Among the teams, Ahli Sidab A (Saud al Mandhari, Talal al Maskari and Mundher al Hasani) are comfortable leaders with 285 points. The team is led by veteran Yusef Khanfar and coach Abdulaziz al Busaidi. Arsen Endurance (Abdullah al Ghilani, Waleed al Fahdi and Abdullah al Hashmi) are second on 185 points and Ahli Sidab B (Mohammed al Lamki, Mazin Al Farei and Bader al Mandhari) are third on 150 points. Gulf Cycles are fourth on 128 points and North Road Oman are fifth on 115 points. In the fourth stage, Ahli Sidab A cyclist Saud al Mandhari romped home with a timing of 1 hour 16 minutes and 29.12 seconds in the 98 km individual road race with 10 laps from the Civil Aviation Club building near the Muscat International Airport to The Wave on December 18 Saud’s team-mate Talal al Maskari missed out on top spot by matter of seconds as he clocked 1:16:29.54, while Polish rider Szczepan Pietruska of North Road Oman finished third on 1:16:29.59. In Under-23 category, Talal al Maskari took the top spot, followed by Abdullah al Ghilani (1:16:29.85) and Waleed al Fahdi (1:16:29.85). Pietruska topped the 40 plus section, Mohammed al Kindi claimed second (1:16:30.87) and Willcox finished third. In the youth section, Egyptian Islam Walid Ayyad (Youth Club) is the leader with Omani rider Abdulaziz al Mandhari (Bausher Youth Centre) second and Amjad al Shraiqi of the Nizwa Junior Centre team in third position. Anuroop Athiparambath COMPLETED STAGE RESULTS Stage 1 – Team Time Trial (Nov 6, 2020) Al Amerat - Al Salil - Al Amerat (45 km) Winners: North Road Oman Stage 2 – Individual Time Trial (Nov 20, 2020) Al Batinah Coastal Road (18 km) Open: Paul Willcox (UK – North Road Oman) U-23: Abdullah al Ghailani Youth: Islam Walid Ayyad (Egypt) - Youth Club 40 plus: Paul Wilcox Stage 3 – Road Race (Nov 27, 2020) Halban (90 km) - 15 Laps Open: Mohammed al Wahibi U-23: Mohammed al Wahibi Youth: Amjad al Shraiqi 40 plus: Paul Willcox (UK – North Road Oman) Stage 4 – Road Race (Dec 12, 2020) The Wave – Airport (98 km) – 10 laps Open: Saud al Mandhari (Ahli Sidab A) U-23: Talal al Maskari Youth: Islam Walid Ayyad 40 plus: Szczepan Pietruska (Poland – North Road Oman) General Classification after stage 4 1 Paul Willcox M40+ North Road Oman 233 2 Mundher al Hasani U23 Ahli Sidab - A 230 3 Abdullah al Ghilani U23 Arsen Endurance 216 4 Saud al Mandhari Elite Ahli Sidab - A 196 5 Mohammed al Wahibi U23 Ahli Sidab - A 177 6 Szczepan Pietruszka M40+ North Road Oman 175 7 Shihab al Qamshouai Elite Royal Army 150 8 Waleed al Fahdi U23 Arsen Endurance 144 9 Abdullah al Hasani Elite Arsen Endurance 129 10 Mshari al Khalili Elite Royal Army 121 11 Daniel Baldwin Elite North Road Oman 119 12 Mohammed al Lamki Elite Ahli Sidab - B 118 13 Talal al Maskari U23 Ahli Sidab - A 112 14 Mazin al Riyami Elite Gulf Cycles 111 15 Said al Rahbi U23 Royal Army 110