Cycling - Arissol sneaks through to win Mid-year tour |08 June 2016

Ahmad Arissol only just managed to win the three-race 2016 Mid-year tour held during the long weekend.

Arissol’s main challenger was once again Adams Cycling Club’s Dominic Arrisol and it was not a surprise to see the former win the first stage of the tour — an 86.2km road race.

The first race started at Stad Linite, Roche Caïman and it took the cyclists to north Mahe via English River, Anse Etoile, Glacis and to the Beau Vallon roundabout at Savoy hotel and back to Victoria via the same route. They then pedalled south all the way to Anse Boileau via Anse Royale and Takamaka to the finish line.

Ahmad Arissol, who rides for Vélo Club de l‘Ouest, finished the race in first place after 2 hours 17 minutes and 21 seconds (2h17:21), with Dominic Arrisol a close second in a time of 2h18:28. Ahmad’s teammate Stephan Belle was third to cross the finish line in a time of 2h18:28, the same time as Christopher Gerry who rides for the same team.

The second race of the tour took place on Sunday and a 31.5km team time trial was in the offing. The race started at the Roche Tortue monument at Anse Des Genets, where the cyclists headed down to Providence via the Providence Highway and they made a U-turn at the Providence roundabout before heading back to the Roche Tortue monument. They had to do five laps.

It was Adams Cycling Club, which include Dominic Arrisol, Ricky Rosalie, Mervyn Esparon, Miguel Mathieu, Lario Harrison and Ruvany Vidot, who posted the fastest time as they finished in 43:55.21 to win the stage.

Ahmad Arissol’s Vélo Club de l’Ouest, who also comprise Christopher Gerry, Stephan Belle, Xerxes Larue, Richard Esparon and Fabien Francourt, were second after clocking 44:24.64, while Angel’s Vélo Club featuring Fadi Confiance, Edrick Roucou and Raoul Gomme were third with a time of 1h08:48.

The final stage of the tour was a 24.2km individual time trial and here the race took the riders from the Roche Tortue monument down towards the Eden Island roundabout via the Providence Highway and back to the start line and they completed this route twice.

Dominic Arrisol was the fastest to get to the finish line with a time of 31:01.5, followed by rival Ahmad Arissol whose time was 31:12.72, while Fadi Confiance was third in a time of 31:28.00.

At the end of the tour, which in total was 142.1km, it was Ahmad Arissol who was victorious in a cumulative time of 3h32:57, while Dominic Arrisol had to settle for second place with an overall time of 3h33:24. Third place went to Xerxes Larue with a total time of 3h35:21.

The win keeps Ahmad Arrisol on course for another overall classification win as he now has 622 points from 14 races, while Dominic Arrisol is second on 506 points, followed in third place by Edrick Roucou with 348 points.

S. N.