Saudi Gazette report

ABHA — Ahlam Nasser Al-Zaid was crowned as the Saudi women cycling champion in the first-ever competition held in the Kingdom, involving women’s participation.

A total of ten women cyclists from all over the Kingdom competed in the 13-km race, which was held in Abha in the southern Asir region under the supervision of the Saudi Cycling Federation.

Cycling is one of the fastest-growing sports in the Kingdom and there has been a significant increase in the number of women taking part in this sport.

Al-Zaid crossed the race distance within 22:18 minutes in a tournament that is the first for the individual race against the clock. “A dream come true! Winning the title of the Saudi champion was my dream ever since I started cycling,” Al-Zaid said adding: “I am proud to be the first titleholder in the history of this sport in the Kingdom.”

Earlier, Al-Zaid had won first place among Saudi women in the open race held at Princess Nora University in Riyadh and third place in general category and also ranked second among Saudi women and fifth in general in the open race held in Al-Khobar.

She had also claimed first place in the virtual cycling championship, and participated in the Iron Man race, which was held in Bahrain last year, with a distance of 90 km, which she crossed in less than three hours.

The contestant Al-Anoud Khamis Al-Majed won the second place with crossing the distance within 25:39 minutes, and Alaa Salem Al-Zahrani emerged third with a time of 26:57:00 minutes while Noura Al-Sheikh came in fourth place with a time of 27:04:00 minutes.

Awatof Al-Qunbitt was the eldest participant and Batoul Ahmed was the youngest participant in the tournament. Both of them expressed their pride in having the opportunity to participate in the Kingdom’s Women Championship as part of the women’s team of Cycling Time 2030.

Sherine Abu Al-Hassan, a member of the women’s team of Cycling Time 2030, said that there are three other female members of the Saudi Cycling Federation from various regions of Saudi Arabia who came to participate in the event.

“The idea of the Cycling Time 2030 team had its origin in March this year when all the outdoor activities and cycling practices came to a halt following the coronavirus lockdown. The team includes many young and elder women whose ages range between 18 and 65 years,” she said, adding that the team is supervised by a group of professional trainers headed by Yusef Al-Qoud, the team coach of Al-Hilal Club. Yusef provided all the capabilities and facilities to support the team and encourage women to practice this sport, she added.