Bilal Al Saadi claimed second place at the Tour of Salalah in a race which marked a major improvement in strength of the Qatar National Cycling Team.

Al Saadi, still only 19 years of age and gaining form, also takes home the best young rider jersey after placing 5th, 3rd, 1st, and 17th on each day of the four-stage race. After eight and a half hours of racing, tour winner Jaber Al Mansoori (UAE) lay just 38 seconds ahead of the youngster, with a 2 min 8-second gap back to Mostafa Alrabie (KSA) in third place.

The tour comprised a variety of tests. The prologue was just six kilometers and the first of two stages where Team Qatar would win the team prize – aided by a win from Ahmed Elbourdainy, ahead of Qatari teammate Abdullah Al Jaidi, with Bilal Al Saadi in 5th place.

Stage two would be the UAE teams. They claimed it with a decisive first and second place which were the start of their progression to the overall win and the overall team prize. Al Saadi explained, “We came out of the first stage with the race lead, the points jersey, and the young rider jersey to defend. With intermediate sprints at 40 kilometers and 80 kilometers, we worked together to help Ahmed [Elbourdainy] get the points but it was so hard in the cross-winds and UAE were smart – they did no work and, after the second sprint, all five attacked as a team.