The Riyadh Triathletes faced one of the hardest and hottest events of the season with the dreaded Double Duathlon on Friday the 13th.
This event consists of a four-kilometer run, followed by a 10-kilometer cycle ride, a three-kilometer run, another 10-kilometer ride, a two-kilometer run, yet another 10-kilometer ride and finally a one-kilometer run. The event was hosted at Ranco Farm, a regular venue, so club members were used to the course and well aware of the many leg-sapping climbs and the very sharp corners on the downhill section of the cycle route.
Thirty-one competitors began the first of the four runs, all which followed an “out and back” format. Steve Tomlisson (M – Veteran) came home first just ahead of Antonio Castellanos (M – Open) and Dave Wright (M – Open) who finished together.
After the quickest of transitions Gerd Muetze (M – Open) was first to return to transition completing the opening 10-kilometer ride in 00:17:33. Castellanos came home second with Nasser Al Mutrad (M – Open) in third place.
At the end of the second run, Tomlisson had regained third place, with Castellanos and Muetze switching places at the top. Casetellanos and Muetze again switched positions at the end of the next ride, this time joined by seasoned cyclist Scott Waight in third place.
By the end of the two-kilometer run Muetze, Castellanos and Tomlisson were fighting between themselves for the top three positions. Muetze took first overall, benefitting from his consistently faster transition times.
In the Category B race Freda Gocian (F – Veteran) dominated the bike stages, and despite being relegated into second place in most of the run stages by Katerina Holeckova (F – Open), Gocian took first place overall. Congratulations must also go to the club’s triathlon newbie Loreli Watson (F – Open) who battled on to take third place in Category B.
All the competitors would like to thank the supporters for enduring the early morning start and distributing much needed water throughout the race.
Riyadh Triathletes would also like to thank Carrefour @5 le Mall for their support for this season.
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Results:
Category A: 1st: Gerd Muetze, (M-O), 1:39:31; 2nd: Antinio Casetllanos (M-O), 1:41:53; 3rd: Steve Tomlisson (M-V), 1: 42:34; 4th: Nasser Al Mutrad (M-O), 1:49:43; 5th: Scott Waight 1:50:13
Category B: 1st: Freda Gocian, (F-V), 2:11:36; 2nd: Katerina Holeckova, (F-O), 2:13:44;
3rd: Loreli Watson (F-O) 2:50:54
Muetze and Gocian hold off competition to win
Muetze and Gocian hold off competition to win
Benzema grabs hat-trick on Al-Hilal debut as Blues cruise to victory over Al-Okhdood
RIYADH: Karim Benzema had a debut to remember on Thursday, just days after completing a blockbuster move to Al-Hilal from Al-Ittihad.
The Frenchman, who had scored eight goals for his former side this season, took his tally to 11 as he grabbed a hat-trick against home side Al-Okhdood.
Benzema, wearing the No. 90 jersey, led the line in Najran as Al-Hilal sought to hit the 50-point mark in the Saudi Pro League and maintain their lead at the top. With Al-Ahli just three points behind and playing at the same time against Al-Hazem, victory was imperative.
Flanked by Malcom and Salem Al-Dawsari, Benzema enjoyed a comfortable first outing with the Blues. As he dropped deep to overload the midfield and drifted intelligently between attacking channels, a goal on his debut always felt inevitable.
After a goal resulting from slick combination between Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Al-Dawsari was ruled out because of a foul by Ali Lajami in the build-up, the game remained goalless in the opening half hour.
But then Benzema, targeting the same channels as Milinkovic-Savic and Al-Dawsari, dropped deep to initiate a move before advancing into the six-yard box to backheel the opener in the 31st minute.
Fifteen minutes after the break, Kalidou Koulibaly won possession high up the pitch before releasing Malcom into space, who squared for Benzema to tap home his second.
Al-Dawsari created Benzema’s third just three minutes later, after Milinkovic-Savic carried the ball toward the box and gave the winger a chance to pick out Benzema with a low cross.
Pundits on official broadcaster Thmanyah highlighted the role Benzema was playing in helping Al-Hilal diversify their attacking play. With the trio of Malcom, Milinkovic-Savic and Al-Dawsari missing a consistent, clinical striker to provide for until now — 10 players in the league have scored more goals than Al-Hilal’s top scorer Marcos Leonardo — Benzema provided the final piece of the puzzle and completed it with full marks on his first appearance.
With the clock ticking down, Al-Hilal capitalized as Al-Okhdood tired, and Malcom grabbed his side’s fourth goal in the 70th minute, before Al-Dawsari added a brace to complete an emphatic 6-0 rout.
Over in Jeddah, Al-Ahli faced a visiting Al-Hazem side led by the last striker to guide the Greens to a league title, Omar Al-Somah. The Syrian striker failed to make much of an an impact on his return to Al-Inma Stadium, however.
After a difficult first half against resilient opponents, Ivan Toney finally broke the deadlock in the 58th minute to extend his tally at the top of the Pro League goal-scoring chart to 19. It came when veteran keeper Ibrahim Zaid, deputizing in goal for Bruno Varela who was forced off in the 33rd minute due to injury, spilled a corner, allowing Toney to pounce and tap in from close range.
Any hope of a comeback was extinguished in the 76th minute when Sultan Tanker bundled the ball into his own net following a low cross from Mohammed Abdulrahman.
Earlier, Al-Fayha defeated Al-Najma 3-0 at home to move ahead of Al-Hazem into 11th place in the league. The visitors continue to endure the worst start to a season in Pro League history, becoming the first team to go 20 matches without a victory.
On Friday, NEOM host Al-Riyadh at 5:25 p.m. and Al-Ettifaq face visitors Damac at 6 p.m., before the weekend’s blockbuster match-up as Al-Nassr host Al-Ittihad at 8:30 p.m.
