By Rizwan Rehmat
DOHA: Tall Tunisian rider Meher Hasnaoui yesterday won the 3rd Tour of Zubarah with an impressive third-placed finish in the final stage which was clinched by Kyrgyzstan’s Eugen Wacker.
Hasnaoui, who won stage one on Thursday to showcase his fighting form, yesterday upstaged overnight leader and title favourite Jacob Tipper who was left fuming at the end of the 119.8-km stage.
Refusing to talk to reporters at the end of the days’ proceedings, Tipper gestured angrily at a TV camera crew before cycling off to his camp.
Seconds earlier Wacker brought delight to Kuwait Cycling Project by winning the final stage of the four-day event in a time of 2 hours 45 minutes and 08 seconds as riders battled strong winds.
Pisghaman Giant Team’s Naser Rezavi finished the final stage in second place, ahead of Hasnaoui who also finished in a bunch sprint opposite Qatar’s historical landmark of Zubarah Fort in the north eastern tip of the country.
Iran’s Mohammad Esmaeil Chaichi Raghmi and Jose Manuel Gutierrez Revuelat of Spain completed the top five that finished 52 seconds ahead of the rest of the riders.
Hasnaoui clocked an overall time of 9 hours 15 minutes and 21 seconds to top the general individual classification.
Wacker, who won the stage yesterday, was 15 seconds behind Hasanoui in the overall classification.
Rezavi, after a second-placed finish yesterday, closed his Qatar trip 20 seconds behind yesterday’s Tour of Zubarah winner.
Chachi Raghmi (PKY Pisghaman Giant Team) was fourth fastest (49 seconds behind) while Tipper - who owned the yellow jersey for three out of four days - ended in fifth spot (49 seconds).
Chachi Raghmi topped the U23 classification with an overall time of 9:16:10 to grab the light blue jersey. Italy’s Andera Palini - who finished sixth fastest in the final stage yesterday - was seventh in overall general classification (58 seconds behind.
Palini, one of the top riders on the Asian UCI Tour rankings, ended Tour of Zubarah with the red jersey.
Pisghaman Giant Team clinched the team classification (27:48:09) ahead Kuwait Cycling Team (27:48:50). Sharjah Team (28:06:08) was placed third.
“It was very hard for me and my team. Finally we won the Tour of Zubarah after such great efforts,” Hasnaoui said yesterday.
“It is a great pleasure for us to win this Tour of Zubarah. I hope next year we can come back and win again. For sure we will come back next year,” he said with a smile.
“You know the last stage was very hard. I was four seconds behind when we started the stage. I am lucky that it was windy and that proved good for me as I finally managed to take the yellow jersey,” Hasnauoi said.
“It has been a good few weeks for us as a team. We did well in the UAE and in Malaysia also and now this,” Hasnaoui said.
Red jersey owner Palini was satisfied with his four days of riding in windy Qatar.
“It was a good race for me. Our team take the yellow jersey. We are very happy. We are very happy,” Palini said.
“Now we will go home for a bit of rest,” the Italian said. “We will try to recover for two weeks and then we will start 2016 fresh,” he said.
“Yes, I am satisfied with my riding this week,” Palini said. “It was not a problem for me in Qatar. I am not concerned who won this race,” Palini said.
“I don’t know if I will be back next year though I enjoyed racing here,” he added.
Wacker was thrilled with his stage win yesterday.
“I am very happy for this stage win,” Wacker said after posing for pictures with his team-mates at the iconic Zubarah Fort venue.
“We also have the third place in general. It is a very luck stage for me and my team,” Wacker said.
“It was a very good job by all of us. It was a surprise for me. We were back in the bunch. It was very tough. It was a strong headwind. I am not a sprinter,” Wacker said.
“I may come back for (February’s) Tour of Qatar next year,” Wacker added.
Tipper grabbed the opening day’s prologue to wear the yellow jersey and retained for the next two stages won by Hasanoui and Germany’s Michael Scweizer.
However, a strong headwind and probably lack of effort from his team-mates saw Tipper lose ground on the final bunch of five riders. Event organisers Qatar Cycling Federation will now prepare for a 10-day cycling extravaganza in February – the Ladies Tour of Qatar and the Men’s Tour of Qatar events.
THE PENINSULA
