Belgian cyclist Maxim van Gils of the Belgian Lotto Soudal team was crowned today with the title of the "Saudi Tour 2022", which was held in Al-Ula, during the period from the first to the fifth of this February, and was organized by the Ministry of Sports in cooperation with the Saudi Cycling Federation, as one of the initiatives of the Quality of Life Program .

The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Sports for Sports and Youth Affairs Abdulaziz Al-Massad crowned the Belgian race champion “Maxim van Gils” after leading the general ranking in the race with a time of 17.9:38 hours, 36 seconds ahead of the Colombian cyclist Santiago Buitrago of the British Bahrain Victorious Team, who came in Second place, while Portuguese cyclist Rui Costa from the Emirates team finished third, with a time of 17.10:26 hours.

The Dutch cyclist Dylan Groenwegen of the French Bike Exchange team achieved the title of the fifth and final stage, which started and ended in the old town of Al-Ula with a distance of 137.9 km and a time of 2.56:10 hours.

The Belgian Quick Step Alpha Vinyl team won the title of best team in the "Saudi Tour 2022", while Maxim van Gils and the "Saudi Tour 2022" champion succeeded in including the individual and general classification titles and the general points title, and the Dutch cyclist Dylan Groenwegen won the title of best young rider In the race, the Norwegian cyclist Martin Orianstad was the most efficient driver.

15 international teams comprising 105 competitors representing 7 international teams from 10 different countries participated in the “Saudi Tour 2022” race, namely: Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, Australia, the Netherlands, the Emirates, Norway, Kuwait and Malaysia. The five ran a distance of 831.3 km at a rate of 4.5 hours for each stage. The first stage started and ended in the Winter Park “Winter Park”, while the second started in front of the Taibah University branch and ended in “Abu Raka”, and the third stage started from Hadaj Well in Tayma and ended In the Old City Center”, while the fourth stage of the winter park started and ended in the view of Harrat Uwaid, and the last stage started and ended in the old city.

The contestants in this race passed 26 areas and historical sites in Al-Ula, most notably the historic Al-Hajar area, which includes Mada’in Saleh, classified as the first Saudi site to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, Hadaj Well in Tayma, one of the largest wells in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Winter Park. Winter Park, the Old City, the Knights Village, Elephant Mountain, Ikma Archaeological Mountain, and other historical archaeological areas.