ABU DHABI // Clad in black cycling gear and, of course, a helmet, Sheikh Nahyan bin Zayed, chairman of Abu Dhabi Sports Council (ADSC), joined hundreds of cyclists at TrainYas on Tuesday.
Sheikh Nahyan, accompanied by a group of officials and British cycling champion Mark Cavendish, attended the free weekly event to promote the capital’s inaugural cycling event, the Abu Dhabi Tour.
On his lap of Yas Marina Circuit, Sheikh Nahyan said he was forced to work harder by cycling partner Cavendish, who is Abu Dhabi Tour’s ambassador.
“It was very nice, I liked it, and the champion was riding right next to me. He was pushing me too hard,” said Sheikh Nahyan.
In addition to sharing the course with VIP riders, visitors were given free Abu Dhabi Tour merchandise such as orange cotton T-shirts, Castelli cycling tour jerseys and water bottles.
The promotional event raised awareness of tomorrow’s four-stage professional cycling race.
The public is invited to cheer cyclists along the route and to join a parade on the last day – Sunday – at 5pm, at the F1 Yas Marina Circuit Events Centre. “It’s fantastic recognition for the Abu Dhabi Tour that, before it starts, is already blessed by his Highness,” said Lorenzo Giorgetti, chief executive of RCS Sport, which is organising the event with ADSC .
“It’s a very important sign that the Abu Dhabi Tour is a very important event for Abu Dhabi and we get the support from the highest level, and we are very, very happy to see it coming.”
Recreational cyclist Ahmed Ali, who pedals around the circuit every Tuesday with friends, said the Abu Dhabi Tour was helping to spread awareness of the importance of physical fitness.
“It’s good because it’s promoting exercise and workouts,” said Mr Ali, an Emirati, who also participates in endurance horse races.
“We need to acknowledge for the people that you have to work out, and you have to do exercises, because it is a culture.
“Once you create a culture by doing such events, it promotes the awareness among the people.”
Michel Jost, a Swiss national who is also a regular at TrainYas, said cycling promoted a sense of belonging among people of all cultures.
“It’s great. It brings people together. It’s a healthy way to meet people and it brings health awareness to the whole population,” he said.
The 555-kilometre Abu Dhabi Tour starts in the Rub Al Khali desert in the Western Region.
Abu Dhabi Media, publisher of The National, will broadcast the race live.
rpennington@thenational.ae
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Recipe
Garlicky shrimp in olive oil
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Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
180ml extra virgin olive oil; 4 to 5 large cloves of garlic, minced or pureed (or 3 to 4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped); 1 or 2 small hot red chillies, dried (or ¼ teaspoon dried red chilli flakes); 400g raw prawns, deveined, heads removed and tails left intact; a generous splash of sweet chilli vinegar; sea salt flakes for seasoning; a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Method
▶ Heat the oil in a terracotta dish or frying pan. Once the oil is sizzling hot, add the garlic and chilli, stirring continuously for about 10 seconds until golden and aromatic.
▶ Add a splash of sweet chilli vinegar and as it vigorously simmers, releasing perfumed aromas, add the prawns and cook, stirring a few times.
▶ Once the prawns turn pink, after 1 or 2 minutes of cooking, remove from the heat and season with sea salt flakes.
▶ Once the prawns are cool enough to eat, scatter with parsley and serve with small forks or toothpicks as the perfect sharing starter. Finish off with crusty bread to soak up all that flavour-infused olive oil.
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