Muscat: Paul Willcox and his teammates kick-started the Oman Cycling Association (OCA) League 2023-24 with a resounding win for their team CycleKOM in the season-opening team time trial at Al Sawadi in Barka on Friday.
CycleKOM – NRO clocked 57 minutes 16 seconds to top the 48 km race took part by 13 teams.
Salalah Club came second (00:59:41) while Oman Royal Army (00:59:54) took a close third spot.
Oman Club (01:01:02) and Wave Riders (01:02:06) completed the top five respectively.
CycleKOM are winning the team time trial race for the fourth straight time in the OCA League.
“It was a great start to the season and a good way for the team as a whole to bounce back from a disappointing outing in the Tour of Salalah,” team captain Paul Willcox told Oman Daily Observer after winning the race.
CLEAR PLAN
The CycleKOM captain said they had a clear plan for the race.
“Although favourites, we weren’t complacent in our approach to the race. We executed our plan effectively. All five of us finished together with the third team member time counting. There was little wind until the last quarter of the race, but I felt the heat today and it was tough for all riders pushing to their limits,” the British cyclist added.
CycleKOM featured a strong team line-up of captain Willcox, Oman national team rider Mohammed al Wahibi, Hashim al Farsi, Greg Pollard and David Hynes.
Al Musannah Club (01:06:58), Izki Club (01:07:49), IRN Bro’s (01:07:55), Al Ettifaq Club (01:07:58), Elevate Cycling Team (01:08:13), Bahla Club (01:09:06), Quriyat Club (01:12:50) and Brothers Team (01:14:27) occupied the sixth to thirteen places respectively in the team race.
CycleKOM top the team chart with 250 points, followed by Salalah Club on 230 points and Oman Royal Army on 210 points. Oman Club (200) and Wave Riders (190) complete the top five points list.
After the lone team race in the seven-stage OCA League 2023-24, the attention now turns to individual races with the first one at the Airport Loop in Seeb for a distance of 98 km on October 27.
A total of 130 cyclists from 15 teams are in action in three categories for the season-long league.
The Open category winner’s red jersey is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, while the 40 plus winner will get a green jersey by Oman Cycling Association and the under-23 winner’s white jersey is sponsored by Badr al Samaa.
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