Although very early in the year, the races were hotly contested and the riders coming from warmer climates had a better time of it! Team Medscheme went over with the objective of doing well, and despite losing the VP Cup to a strong Moroccan, Mouhicine Lahsaini, Malcolm Lange got it right in the next opportunity to win the Emirates Cup in the Bunch sprint!

The first race in Dubai, held over laps of a 14 km circuit, started quickly, with the wind the biggest obstacle. The first break of the day proved to be the winning move, and although it departed in the first 20km, the six leaders lasted until the end! Mouhcine Lahsaini (Morocco), Yousef Mirza Banihammad (UAE), Jonathan Balbuena (France- AVC Aix En Provence), Faysals Alsharaa (Libya), Nic White and Malcolm Lange (Team Medscheme) filled the break and drove it hard until the chase relaxed,

The final kilometers took their toll in the heat and wind, and Lahsaini rested enough, as his team mate was in the chasing group, to make sure that he had something left for the sprint. Once Lange started the sprint, he succumbed to cramps in the final meters, while the Moroccan proved the strongest on the finish line! It was a tough day out, for the first race of the year!


Vice Presidents Cup, UAE 1.2, Dubai - 22 January

Results: 122km

1 Mouhcine Lahsaini (Mar) 2:51:08
2 Malcolm Lange (RSA) Team Medscheme
3 Yousef Mirza Banihammad (UAE)
4 Jonathan Balbuena (Fra) AVC Aix En Provence
5 Faysals Alsharaa (Lba) 0:00:03
6 Nicholas White (RSA) Team Medscheme 0:00:26
7 Abdelatif Saadoune (Mar) 0:03:00
8 Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) CKT TMIT - Champion System 0:03:03
9 Cornelius Van Ooijen (Ned) Cycling Team Jo Piels 0:03:04
10 Abdelbaset Hannachi (Alg) Team Medscheme 0:03:28

The Emirates Cup held in Abu Dhabi was also a windy affair, but with an even flatter circuit, but it was well sheltered in some places. The race split in the early stages but 30 riders stayed together and a bunch sprint was most likely the order of the day. A group did escape and gain some ground, but the Moroccan team missed it and made a big effort to close the gap. The teams of Medscheme and CKT TMIT - Champion System decided to control the pace in the lead up to the sprint, hoping that their respective sprinters, Malcolm Lange, and Jaan Kirsipuu would have the legs to battle it out.

The speed was high in the last 10km with attacks from Morocco and Aix en Provence. The Swiss outfit of CKT, and some help from Medscheme kept everything in check up until the final kilometer kite, when Team Medscheme took over the final punch and delivered Lange to the final 150m where he powered on to win the race! Kirsipiuu was not so lucky and succumbed to cramps in the final sprint effort, also suffering the heat and first race blues! The French, Brenterch and Giraud from AVC Aix En Provence rounded off the podium for the day!


Emitrates Cup, UAE 1.2, Abu Dhabi - 23 January

Results 121km
1 Malcolm Lange (RSA) Team Medscheme 2:52:43
2 Erwan Brenterch (Fra) AVC Aix En Provence
3 Benjamin Giraud (Fra) AVC Aix En Provence
4 Yousif Bani Hammad (UAE) UAE National-1
5 Ahmed Belgasem (Lba) Libya Team
6 Abdelati Saadoune (Mar) Moroccan Team
7 Tarik Chaoufi (Mar) Moroccan Team
8 Aleksandr Surutkovych (Aze) Azerbaijan-Neftchi
9 Puchong Sai-Upomsin (Tha) Thailand
10 Badr Al-Balooshi (UAE) UAE National-1