Cycling in Algeria

[Al-khiyal]

TAIF, 4 August 2006 — Algeria’s Hannash Abdul Basit beat back the challenge of Omar Hassanin of Syria in a sprinting battle to the finish to win the final event yesterday in the 14th Arab Cycling Championship here.

Basit clocked 4 hours 4 minutes and 50 seconds to clinch the gold medal in the 150-kilometer road race.

Hassanin who was a fraction of a second behind Basit received the silver medal. Bader Mirza of the UAE took the bronze medal in the event.

The final day of the competition was not without incident as Qatari Bilal Zaid took a spill during the race and had to be taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries. He was released later in the day.

Tunisia won the team race with a total time of 12 hours, 17 minutes and 24 seconds. Egypt came in second with 12:18:06 and Algeria third with 12:18:28.

Algerian cyclist wins final event in Arab championship

[Al-khiyal]

The report above didn't even get the Algerian's name right


Abdelbasset Hannachi

Team CSC/CVT's Abdelbasset Hannachi is the twice-crowned Arabian National Road Champion having won both the Under 23 and elite categories at the event held in Dubai on Thursday 3 August.

According to Team CSC/CVT Manager, Chris Willemse Snr, "By winning the championship wearing the colours of CSC/CVT, Abdel has made the rest of his team, his sponsors and supporters of Western Cape cycling very proud."

Algerian-born Hannachi is the current Western Province Under 23 road and time trial champion.

The 150km Arabian event took place on a hilly circuit in hot, windy conditions. Hannachi broke away with 12 other riders after about 80km. The bunch then reduced to eight riders as the leaders battled it out on a 13km mountain pass.

With the finish line in sight, the leaders went on the attack. Hannachi out-sprinted the rest, beating Omar Hasamin (Syria) into second and Mohammed Amed Mirza (UAE) into third place in a winning time of four hours, 13 seconds.

Hannachi returns to South Africa on Thursday 10 August and will once again join the Cape-based CSC/CVT team as the team competes in, amongst other races, the Cansa Lost City event on August 27.

Gold for Abdelbasset Hannachi

[Al-khiyal]

Cape Town, June 29, 2007 - It was almost gold for Cape Town cyclist Abdelbasset Hannachi, who on Thursday took silver at the UCI B World Track Championship when he was narrowly beaten into second place by Indonesia's Samai Samai in the 1000 metre time trial.

Hannachi, an Algerian national currently resident in South Africa and a member of the CSC/Marcello pro cycling team, missed gold by less than one second.

Third place went to South Africa's Gadi Chait, who won gold in the Keiren event on Tuesday.

Hannachi's team manager, Chris Willemse Snr, said Hannachi showed the world why he is the current Algerian under 23 road and time trial champion.

"Over the past two days, CSC/Marcello riders have earned two medals in the championships, so I have good reason to be proud."

Willemse said the track achievements of Hannachi and Willemse Jnr once again proved why his team is considered one of South Africa's top cycling teams. "Our performances on both the track and the road are unmatched by other South African pro teams who tend to focus on one discipline, but seldom both."

Silver medal for Hannachi

[Al-khiyal]

Dimanche 1 juillet 2007 -- Le cycliste algérien Abdelbasset Hannachi a remporté la médaille d'argent de l'épreuve sur piste du Championnat du monde “B” qui s'est déroulé du 26 au 28 juin en Afrique du Sud, a-t-on appris hier auprès de la Fédération algérienne de cyclisme (FAC). La performance de Hannachi sera inscrite en lettres d'or au palmarès de cyclisme algérien car elle est "la première médaille mondiale obtenue par l'Algérie depuis l'indépendance".

Abdelbasset Hannachi a pris la seconde place de l'épreuve disputée le 28 juin, à 71 centièmes de seconde du vainqueur. Le coureur algérien a par ailleurs pris la 9e place dans la course-poursuite individuelle, une épreuve qui n'est pas sa spécialité. Hannachi, 21 ans, a effectué en 2005 un stage de six mois dans le centre continental en Afrique du Sud où il a laissé une bonne impression grâce à ses performances. Il avait décroché d'ailleurs un contrat professionnel avec un club sud africain.

Dans l'épreuve du 40 km (160 tours de piste), l'Algérien Hicham Chaâbane (19 ans) a pris la 7e place. Sur les 20 partants sur la ligne de l'épreuve finale, Chaâbane a réalisé "un classement honorable" sachant qu'il est à sa première année dans la catégorie des seniors.

Chez les dames, l'Algérienne Nesrine Touati a terminé 4e dans l'épreuve de vitesse. Sa compatriote Houda Belmadani a occupé le même rang dans l'épreuve du 500 m. Elle a raté de peu (4 centièmes de seconde) la médaille de bronze. Dans la course-poursuite individuelle dames, Houda Belmadani a fini 4ème, Amina Kerbouche 5ème et Nesrine Touati 6ème. La participation de la sélection féminine algérienne au rendez-vous d'Afrique du Sud est "une première dans un Championnat du monde", indique la Fédération algérienne qui précise que la sélection nationale féminine n'a bénéficié que d'une seule séance d'entraînement durant cette saison dans les courses de piste.

"L'équipe a néanmoins été bien prise en charge durant la saison et a raté de peu le podium en Afrique du Sud. Le cyclisme algérien a repris son départ", a notamment souligné le président de la Fédération, M. Nacereddine Naidji.

L'Algérien Abdelbasset Hannachi remporte la médaille d'argent

[Al-khiyal]

Tunisia, Algeria perform well at Arab Cycling Championships

December 24, 2008 — Tunisia's senior men's team won the Arab Cycling Championship time-trial race silver medal on Tuesday (December 23rd). Libya won the event and Algeria took the bronze. On Monday, the Tunisian junior men's team won the gold. Algeria claimed the silver in the girls' team time-trial race, behind Syria and ahead of Tunisia. More than 300 riders from across the region are taking part in the 10-day event.

[Al-khiyal]

Algerian riders win title

DUBAI, December 27, 2008 — Algerian riders proved too strong as they claimed the team honours in the 120km junior men’s under-20 race of the Arab Cycling Championship at the Sharjah corniche on Friday.

The three Algerian riders clocked a combined time of 9hrs 26mins 26secs to win the race. The riders were Regui gui Youcef who finished second behind the winner, Murad Bal Mukthar Al Jabri, of Libya. Youcef’s team-mates, Bara Ahmed and Saada Britol came in fifth and sixth respectively to put the team in a strong position for the first place. Tunisia took second place with Libya third, though both clocked identical time of 9hrs 26mins 35secs. The positions were decided on tie-break as the Tunisians gathered 19 points and Libya 35 after race.

Libya, however, had a consolation as Al Jabri emerged the winner in the individual event and was awarded the cup.

The team of the day were Syria, who captured both the team and individual honours in the women’s 45km race. The Syrians had to fend off a strong challenge from their Algerian counterparts in the early phases of the race to claim victory.

Robah Helani led the Syrian assault clocking a time of 1hr 21mins 18secs followed by two Algerian riders Hoda Bal Madani and Nesreen Amadaly in second and third respectively. Both riders timed 1hr 21mins 18secs.

The winner, Helani expressed delight for leading her side to victory. She said it was a difficult race but team-work contributed to their victory. On her individual triumph, Helani said: “Though I won my team-mates played a huge part. Without help from them, my effort alone would not have been enough. Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, president of the Bahrain Cycling Association, meanwhile, expressed satisfaction for his team winning a bronze medal in the men’s time-trial on Thursday. “A great deal has been expected from us as being one of the top teams in the Arab Gulf. We won the first Gulf Cycling Tour last month, so everybody expected us to compete for podium place.”

But he says the Arab championship is a stronger competition as the best Arab cyclists are on parade here. “We should have finished well to win a medal in today’s (Friday) road race as our riders started well. But I think they got exhausted having started too strong to lead the pack. I think it was a tactical mistake,” he said.

On the future of the cycling in Bahrain, he said the association was working on programmes to promote and improve the standard of the cyclists in the country. “We have four or five cycling clubs and all the cyclists are professionals. Though they work in the army, they are expected to train most of the time for good performance during championships,” he said.

Results:

120km junior race: Individual: 1. Murad Bal MukhtarAl Jabri (Libya) 3hrs 08mins 25secs; 2. Yousuf Rafiki (Algeria) 3hrs 08mins 25secs; 3. Ayman Al Maraihi (Tunisia) 3hrs 08mins 25secs.

Team: 1. Algeria (9hrs 26mins 26secs; 2. Tunisia ( 9hrs 26mins 35secs); 3. Libya (9hrs 26mins 35secs.

Women’s 45km race: Individual: Robah Nelany (Syria) 1hr 21mins 18secs; 2. Hoda Bai Madani (Algeria) 1hr 21mins 18secs; 3. Nesren Amadaly (Algeria) 1hr 21mins 18secs.

Team: 1. Syria (10hrs 06mins 58secs; 2. Algeria (4hrs 06mins 06secs; 3. Tunisia (4hrs 13mins 06secs.

[Al-khiyal]

Championnats d'Algérie «jeunes» :
Une participation massive

Samedi 11 Juillet 2009 -- Les championnats nationaux de cyclisme des catégories jeunes ont eu lieu mercredi dernier, à Ténès, avec la participation 413 coureurs représentant 41 clubs. Organisées par la ligue de Chlef, les compétitions ont débuté tôt le matin, sur une grande boucle de 72 km de la ville de Ténès en passant par Sidi Akacha, Kalloul, Ghbal, Talassa, Sidi Abderrahmane et retour sur la ville côtière de Ténès. Les 132 cadets ont effectué un seul tour et dès les premiers kilomètres, on a enregistré les premiers lâchés, une situation qui s'explique par l'absence de système de qualification pour la participation à ce national. La côte, située à la sortie de Talassa, a scindé le peloton en plusieurs groupes. Après Oued Taghzout, sur la route de Mostaganem, on notera qu'à 15 km de l'arrivée, l'échappée du coureur Barbari Adel d'El-kantara (Biskra), qui ne sera jamais rejoint. Ce dernier terminera avec une confortable avance sur les 9 poursuivants. Le sprint de ce groupe sera remporté par le coéquipier du champion, en l'occurrence Merdj Hamza suivi de Gorad Abderrahmane du NR Delly Ibrahim (Alger) pour la 3e place. Les minimes, au nombre de 148, ont effectué sur la dernière partie du même circuit sur une distance de 40 km, ont connu les mêmes problèmes pour s'accrocher au peloton. Cette situation débouchera sur un sprint final d'une quinzaine de coureurs et que remportera le jeune Benbernou Abdeslam de l'école de la ligue de Mostaganem, qui offre ainsi le premier titre de l'histoire à la wilaya et à sa ligue, présidée par monsieur Benyoub. De son côté, Mansouri Abderrahmane permet encore au NR Delly-Ibrahim d'occuper cette fois-ci la seconde place du podium devant Felah Abdelghani. En fin d'après-midi, ce fut au tour de la catégorie enfant (7 à 9 ans) d'effectuer un parcours de 7,5 km sur un circuit situé au port de Ténès. Les 40 participants se sont vite éparpillés le long du circuit facilitant le travail des juges à l'arrivée et permettant, au jeune Zaid Tarek d'offrir cette fois-ci un titre au NR Delly-Ibrahim suivi par Lahcen Fouzi de Hameur El-Aïn et de l'Oranais, sociétaire du club de Naftal, Bechelaghem Oussama en 3e position. Les benjamins, qui ont clôturé la journée sur un circuit fermé de 20 km, ont subi des chutes. On notera qu'à l'avant-dernier tour, il ne restait en tête que 11 prétendants pour les 3 places du podium. Ce fut l'un des favoris, en l'occurrence Hamza Yacine, qui n'est autre que le fils de l'ancien champion Hamza Malek, qui remporta le titre devançant de quelques mètres au sprint Bendaoui Farid de WB Aïn Benian et Mansouri Oussama du NR Delly-Ibrahim.