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Al-Ahram Weekly 9 - 15 March 2000 Issue No. 472 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 9 - 15 March 2000 Issue No. 472
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Focus Books Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Negotiating the Sinai
Abeer AnwarFrom countries as diverse as Saudi Arabia, Finland and Kazakhstan, riders have flocked to Sinai for the 35th edition of Egypt's cycling championship which began last Monday. From 18 nations in all, 120 riders will attempt to conquer the gruelling 1,100-kilometre route. For their troubles, total prize money worth 44,000 German marks ($23,000) stands at the end of the rainbow, first introduced in 1996 to attract the largest number of competitors possible.
The eight-day endurance test, which ends 13 March, cuts through Sharm Al-Sheikh, Nuweiba and Taba. The eight-stage course begins with a preliminary individual round in which each cyclist will cut eight kilometres. Next comes Nuweiba-Taba-Nuweiba (165 kilometres); Nuweiba-Al-Nakab-Nuweiba (250 kilometres); around Nuweiba 10 times (180 kilometres); Nuweiba-Dahab-Sharm Al-Sheikh (175 kilometres); 10 times around Sharm Al-Sheikh (160 kilometres); Sharm Al-Sheikh-Al-Tor-Ras Mohamed-Sharm Al-Sheikh (182 kilometres); and finally, if any cyclist is left pedalling, inside Sharm Al-Sheikh (45 kilometres).
Egypt is taking part with 18 stalwarts. Standouts include Amrou El-Nady, Mohamed Abdel-Fattah, Mohamed Khalifa, Khalid Saad, Said El-Masry and Mahmoud Abbas, led by Russian Vita Semira Nouv, their coach for four years.
El-Nady and Abdel-Fattah have received offers to play professionally in Slovenia and Italy. "We are still thinking about the move since this will be the first professional contract in the history of Egyptian cycling," said Adel Yassin, chairman of the Egyptian Cycling Federation. "The players will get a lot of experience and will help form the mainstay of a new crop of a talented junior generation," Yassin added.
In a warm-up event, several Egyptian cyclists participated in tournaments in Rhodes, Austria, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Estonia and Latvia. The entire team grouped in Nuweiba 10 days prior to the championship.
"This year we face tough competition from Poland, Ireland and Slovakia," Yassin said, thus predicting that Egypt would probably finish in either third or fifth place.
"But it is an honour for us as Egyptians to have an international race in the country's name placed alongside events of the International Cycling Federation," Yassin added. "Our cyclists will get experience by meeting the best players in the world whom they cannot play against elsewhere."
Egypt's cycling team qualified for the Sydney Olympics after being seeded 30th in the latest World Cycling Standing list. The team won five international races last year in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Macedonia and Burkina Faso. They also came third in a race in Ireland, fourth in Estonia and fifth in Slovakia.
In Africa, Egypt is in second after losing its first place ranking to South Africa in the 1999 All-Africa Games in Johannesburg.
Egypt, though, is on top of the Arab world, having won at the Pan-Arab Games in Beirut in 1997 and Amman in 1999. The team also took first place in the 1999 Arab championship in Ismailia.
