Mohammad Sabir ends Mohammad Asif’s winning streak and takes fifth day of Tour de Pakistan
Mohammad Sabir, who was beaten by Mohammad Asif on day three and four, was able to clinch the fifth stage of the Tour de Pakistan cycle race. Sabir covered the distance of 200 kilometres in five hours, three minutes and 2 seconds, while Sultan Aftab of
Sui Gas Company (SSGC) reached the finish line 10 second later to claim the second place in the race. Haroon Rashid from Wapda ended up in third position in 5 hours, three minutes and 22 seconds.
The Tour de Pakistan takes place from Rahim Yar Khan to Bahawalpur. 48 cyclists took part in the fifth stage race of Tour de Pakistan while four cyclists were disqualified by the judges due to technical faults.
Previously, Sabir had won the first two stages but unfortunately he lost in the third stage of the Tour. The Sindh native, M. Asif, who is a junior cyclist, won the 150 kilometre third stage from Motor to Sukkur, which he covered in 4 hours, 16 minutes and
42 seconds. Mohammad Sabir came in second position with a time of 4 hours, 16 minutes and 52 seconds and Hasmatullah of Afghanistan grabbed the third position with a time of 4 hours, 17 minutes and 2 seconds.
After losing in the third stage Sabir said, “It doesn’t really matter if Asif takes one stage, I don’t consider him a big threat”. In the next stage of the game Mohmmad Asif again won the fourth stage. 52 cyclists reached Rahim Yar Khan and Asif covered
178 kilo-meters in five hours, ten minutes and 42 seconds. Nazir Bhatti was forced to retire because he broke his collar bone after falling 10km before the finishing point.
Army’s Mohammad Rafique came second with the little difference of ten seconds and put together a time of 5 hours, 10 minutes and 52 seconds, while his teammate Zahid Mehmmod came third with a time of 5 hours, 11 minutes and 2 seconds. The tour favourite,
Wapda’s Sabir Ali, was in fifth position.
In the fourth stage of Tour de Pakistan Asif said that he was always struggling to beat Sabir on the track. He added, “The four- minute lead is massive for any racer and I need to finish the next three rounds to level the score with Sabir.”
Asif is the only cyclist from any provincial team who is giving a tough time to the departmental teams and he feels that if his team was a little stronger, he would have better chances at winning the race. Asif hoped that he would win the fifth stage but
Sabir beat him to the finish line. Sabir ended up proving that he is the strongest cyclist in the race. He said after winning the satge, “My team worked really hard in containing the Army cyclists. Mohammad Rafiq took a 15-minute lead during the race, but
I must say that my team did a great job at blocking him.”
The race route, which stretches from the south to the northern areas of the country, was agreed upon by the the sports departments of Sui Southern Gas Corporation (SSGC), Wapda, Sui Southern Gas, Army, Pakistan Railway, Afghanistan and four provincial teams.
The participants of the race will now move towards Multan for the 100 kilometre Sixth stage on Monday.
The 57 cyclists will end the race in Abbottabad on 20 March after covering 1,620 kilometres. The cyclists are competing for the prize-money of $10,000. It will be interesting to see who wins the sixth stage of the Tour de Pakistan.
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