RIYADH: The first Saudi International Cycling Tour will be staged in Riyadh early next year, organised by Amaury Sport Organization, the French company that runs the Tour de France.
Being held under the umbrella of the International Cycling Union (UCI), the four-day race will take place from February 4 to 8 on a star-shaped course that will see competitors racing on the Saudi capital’s roads, going through five main desert and valley stages, and circling the city.
The chairman of the Saudi Cycling Federation, Subah Al-Kraidees, said he was delighted that the kingdom would be hosting a major UCI cycling tour for the first time.
Al-Kraidees said: “The Saudi International Cycling Tour is an important international sporting event in the Middle East.
“The kingdom’s position and weight in the world requires us to provide a distinguished international cycling tour to emphasize its excellence in organizing and hosting international events.”
The Saudi Tour will be the latest edition to the Middle East racing calendar, alongside the Tour of Oman, a 2.HC category race organised by ASO, and the UAE Tour, a WorldTour race run by Giro d’Italia organiser RCS.
AFP adds:
The race is the latest event to join Saudi Arabia’s suddenly busy sporting calendar, seen by critics as an attempt at ‘sportswashing’ its image.
The Saudis have faced intense diplomatic fallout over the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi which took place in the ultra-conservative kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
Saudi rulers, also under fire for the war in neighbouring Yemen, have utilised sport as a tool to try and soften their international image and to provide a showcase, they claim, for reforms inside the oil-rich state.
In February, the Saudis hosted a first European Tour golf event.
In July, British boxer Amir Khan won the WBC international welterweight title with a fourth-round stoppage of Australian Billy Dib in Jeddah.
The Dakar Rally, also run by ASO, will be raced in Saudi Arabia in January.
Former heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury will launch his wrestling career at the WWE ‘Crown Jewel’ in Riyadh on Thursday.
When the December heavyweight title fight between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr in Diriyah was announced in August, it brought accusations of “sportswashing” from human rights organisation Amnesty.
“If Anthony Joshua fights Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia, it’s likely to be yet another opportunity for the Saudi authorities to try to ‘sportswash’ their severely tarnished image,” said Felix Jakens, Amnesty UK’s head of campaigns.
