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Rabat — The newly formed Moroccan continental cycling team, Agadir Velo Propulsion, won the Best Team award at the 20th Tour of Benin, which concluded Saturday.
The 104 km stage connected the cities of Toffo and Cotonou.
The Moroccan team edged out the South African squad Tshenolo Pro Cycling by just 11 seconds in the team classification.
Young rider Ibrahim Sabbahi, 22, played a key role in this achievement, finishing second in the individual general classification.
Sabbahi arrived at the final line only 18 seconds behind South African Janse van Rensburg of Tshenolo Pro Cycling.
Three Moroccan riders placed in the top 10 of the individual general classification, with Ibrahim Sabbahi ranking 2nd, El Houcine Essabbahi 7th, and Idriss Al Alouani 8th.
Sabbahi also was awarded both the best young rider and best sprinter jerseys.
During the fifth stage between Quinhi and the capital Porto Novo — a total length of 107.5 km — Sabbahi finished second with the same time of 2h34m34s as South African Jans van Rensburg.
El Houcine Essabbahi took third place with the identical time.
The Moroccan team, consisting of Driss Al Alouani, Ibrahim Sabbahi, Kamal Mahroug, El Houcine Essabbahi, and Youssef El Ghrissi, won the third stage team time trial with a time of 32 hours and 34 minutes, with an average speed of 46.502 km/h.
Essabbahi also won the second stage on Tuesday, which connected the cities of Parakou and Savé on a track of 156.22 km.
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He outsprinted both the yellow jersey holder, South African Janse van Rensburg, and Dutch rider Tom Wijfje.
The Moroccan continental team started strong in the first stage between Nikki and Paradou 119.23 kilometers. Kamal Mahroug finished second, Ibrahim Sabbahi seventh, and Idriss Al Alouani ninth.
Besides Morocco’s Agadir Vélo Propulsion, the tour featured other African national teams from Cameroon, Togo, Ivory Coast, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and host country Benin.
Teams from France, the Netherlands, and the Philippines also competed.
