The first edition of the “Garmin Quest Hatta 2020” race achieved great success during which champions from different continents competed in the event that was held in the mountains of the Hatta region and attracted the participation of 300 professional and amateur athletes.
Polish Mark Gozol won the race title in the men’s professional category after winning first place to finish the entire race in a time of 2 hours 4 minutes and 32 seconds, followed by British second place Tom Walker, who trailed Gozol by two minutes and 44 seconds, finishing the race in a time of 02:07: 16 And the Serbian Bojan Dordijk finished third after finishing the race in a time of 02:14:11, 9 minutes 39 seconds ahead of the champion.
In the women’s professional category, Serbian Avana Kularik won the first title of the world race after achieving first place to finish the race in a time of 02:28:51, beating New Zealander Rachel Delawney by 5 minutes and 50 seconds, as Rachel finished the race in a time of 02:34: 41 British Amy Middleton finished third after finishing the race with a time of 02:40:15.
In the men’s amateur category, the British won the first three places, where David Rice won the first place after finishing the race in a time of 1:10:32, followed by Powell Drury in second place, who finished the race in a time of 1:10:45, i.e. 13 seconds difference in Their compatriot, Graham Pryor, finished third, 29 seconds behind the champion, finishing the race with a time of 1:11:01.
In the women’s amateur category, Frenchwoman Sandrine Zandotti was the fastest among women in this category, where she won first place after finishing the entire race in a time of 1:15:43 hours, followed by British Gemma Brown in second place with a time of 1:16:53 hours and the British Nikki Woodruff is third with a time of 1:25:48 hours.
The participants competed in the professional category over a distance of 38 km, which varied between mountain bikes for a distance of 27 km, running for a distance of 10 km, and kayaking for a distance of 1 km. The race took place in 6 stages, where the first phase included a mountain bike race for a distance of 20 km. For a distance of 2.5 kilometers, then in the third stage, kayaking for a distance of 1 km, and in the fourth stage, running 2.5 kilometers, then they returned in the fifth stage of the mountain bike race again for a distance of 7 kilometers, and in the sixth stage, running for a distance of 5 kilometers.
While the participants competed in the amateur category over a distance of 19.5 km, which varied between mountain bike racing for a distance of 13 km, running for 5.5 km and kayaking for a distance of 1 km. The race was also held in 6 stages. The second stage by running for a distance of 2.5 km and in the third stage rowing for a distance of 1 km, then the contestants moved to the fourth stage by running again for a distance of 2.5 km, then in the fifth stage they returned to mountain bicycles for a distance of 7 km, and in the sixth stage, running for a distance of 500 meters.
The global event in the Hatta region – organized by the Arabian Epic Company in cooperation with the Dubai Sports Council and sponsored by Hatta Adventures and the Garmin International Company – confirms its position on the map for hosting sporting events and its possession of all the ingredients for success represented in the elements of natural beauty from the mountains and plains and wonderful weather.
The Hatta region hosts many exciting annual sporting events that attract wide participation and many athletes from different countries of the world flock to it to participate in mountain bike championships, road races, mountain marathons and triathlons, most notably the “Dubai Hero Hatta” tour, which is the inaugural round of the “Hero Championship” series. “The mountain bike world on the agenda of the International Cycling Federation.