LAHORE – Punjab Education Minister Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehman kept everyone waiting at the flag off ceremony of the ninth stage of the Tour de Pakistan International Cycle Race on Friday morning. The stage, which was won by Hashatullah of Afghanistan, was to start at 9am in the morning but was delayed by 45 minutes.
Hashatullah covered the 115 kilometres distance from Lahore to Gujrat in 3 hours, 11 minutes and 36 seconds. The overall leader of the race, WAPDA’s Sabir, finished second and was followed by Afghan Rameen Roofi at number three. Forty-six cyclists participated in the race.
Meanwhile, Governor Punjab Sardar Latif Khosa has said that by arranging the 16th Tour de Pakistan, a message has been sent out to the world that Pakistan is a peaceful and sports-loving country and has the ability to provide security to foreign teams. The governor expressed this during a dinner in honour of the participants of race. Khosa said that credit was due to the Pakistan Cycling Federation for successfully organising the event despite financial constraints.
NINTH STAGE RESULTS:
1st Hashmat Ullah Afghanistan 3H.11M.36S Average Speed:- 37.10.KM/H, 2nd M.Sabir Wapda 3H.11M.46S, 3rd Rameen Roofi Afghanistan 3H.11M.56S, 4th M.Asif Sindh 3H.12M.06S, 5th M. Rafiq Army 3H.12M.06S, 6th Malik Bashir Wapda 3H.12M.06S.
