Cyclists not satisfied with fan turnout at UCI Doha 2016
The crowds have been sparse so far at the UCI World Road Cycling Championship in Doha and some of the cyclists are clearly disheartened by it.
Tony Martin admitted his frustration about the poor turnout of spectators at the world road cycling championships in Doha.
After winning the first time trial, Martin said he would wait until he returns home to Germany to properly celebrate his achievements because so few fans had turned out to watch.
"About the crowd, it would sure be nice to have some more fans here to celebrate with. The real celebrations will be when I get home," he told reporters.
Low spectator numbers will only add to the criticism for organizing the championships in Doha, where the temperatures are still close to 40ºC.
Dutchman Tom Dumoulin was not impressed by the number of fans at the championships.
"I just saw a sign 'spectator entrance' which I found quite hilarious actually," Dumoulin told Dutch news group NOS after training. "There are simply no fans. That's weird. It's a bleak World Championships."
The championships will close tomorrow with the Men's Elite Road Race, which runs from 10:30am to 4:35pm.
Are you planning to attend?
Sources: Cycling Weekly |Photo by Ray Toh
Partly I feel the road closures were the main reason where people wanted to avoid.
As brite also said, many are not interested in the sport, we don't have much cycling places here in town, and the huge areas where cycle lanes have been made, are inaccessible either due to no parking zones or no awareness.
Rest part of our days are busy juggling between work and home, and the weekends we get off are spent with family and catching up with peace. So, why would one want to show up, when they themselves are catching up with good times with their family.
Rizks , you ninny.. What about just going to see men and women bent over the handle bars hurtling down the street in bright, tight fitting Lycra
If they would have offered something for free like Free drink (Soft drinks) with Meals or 100 riyal Lulu Voucher I am sure there would have been a large number of crowd to cheer them up and themselves....:)
Ha, ha, ha. Disappointed? What did they expect? Enthusiasm for sport? Ha, ha, ha.
One reason could be the location. We know how many flock to see the Qatar national day celebrations and were chased or blocked. This shows the thirst for entertainment. Most of the middle and lower earning employee would not even think to go to Pearl. The rest have other business to do ;)
Come on.. Are we really surprised by this ?
Qatar rightly wants to promote sport.. However, there has to be some sort of selction criteria.
Most of the Qataris are not into cycling or sport other than football. The majority of expats, especially from the developing nations don't have the time or don't care.
Cycling is mainly followed in Europe or USA where there is an apetite for the sport and people cycle for exercise