Hadi crowned overall Tour of Sharjah champion
Skydive Dubai team complete clean sweep in fourth edition of race
Sky Dive Dubai’s Andrea Palini won the fourth and final stage but it was his teammate Soufian Hadi of Morocco, who ended with the overall individual honours at the end of the Fourth Tour of Sharjah that concluded at the Al Madam Club yesterday.
An outright leader with a 12-second advantage over teammate Palini and 15 seconds ahead of Francisco Mancebo at the end of the third round on Monday, Hadi finished yesterday’s fourth and final stage way down the order. But that effort was just adequate for him to take the overall crown ahead of Palini and Mancebo to complete a clean sweep for Skydive Dubai.
The fourth and final stage over 190 kms began at the Al Qasimiya University.
“This win is like a dream come true for me. After I finished in third place last year, I had set my mind on winning this race. I never expected success to come so soon, but I had put in a lot of hard work during the summer months and this has helped me,” Hadi told Gulf News. “Definitely, this is a huge win for my career as the previous best I had was the National Time Trial title for two years back home in Morocco. This is my biggest win so far, and I hope I can build on this success in the future,” he added.
Palini won the Stage Four in a time of 4 hours, 27.33 minutes at an average speed of 39kph, while the second place went to Malaysia’s Terengganu Cycling Team’s Amin Mat Shahrul Hadi and Angel de Julian Vazquez from the Kuwait Cycling Project was placed third.
Sultan Mohammad Bin Huwaidin, Vice-Chairman, Madam Club was joined by Salem Obaid, Director-General, Al Madam Municipality and Nasser Omran Al Shamsi, General Secretary, UAE Cycling Association and Nasser Ahmad Al Fardan, General Secretary, Sharjah Sports Council in presenting the jerseys to the top three finishers.
Meanwhile, the Emirates Cup cycle race will be flagged off at 7.30am today to coincide with the 44th UAE National Day celebrations.
Organised by the Sharjah Sports Council in coordination with the UAE Cycling Association, the race will be held over 140km and will be open to cyclists of all nationalities and levels.
Definitely, this is a huge win for my career as the previous best I had was the National Time Trial title for two years back home in Morocco. This is my biggest win so far.”
Soufian Hadi | Sky Dive Dubai cyclist