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American cyclist Phinney makes history in Dubai
American cyclist Phinney makes history in Dubai Adur Pradeep / 6 February 2014 World champion Tony Martin finishes fourth behind Olympic winner Lasse Norman Hansen BMC Racing Team’s Taylor Phinney of US on his way to victory in Dubai on Wednesday. — KT photo by Rahul Gajjar It was a historic moment for Dubai and Taylor Phinney on Wednesday. The American rode into cycling’s history books by winning the first stage on the inaugural Dubai Tour. Phinney’s stunning time trial helped him being the first ever recipient of the Dubai Tour’s blue jersey. Phinney, a former under-23 world time trial champion, averaged 50.29km/h in the 9.9km time trial to set a winning time of 12’03”, and guided his team BMC Racing one-two with team-mate Britain’s Steve Cummings finishing second. An excited Phinney (@taylorphinney) tweeted: “Hey that feels good! Huge honor to win the first stage here at @TourOfDubai. Thank you BMC for believing in me, and also for the fast bike!!” The first stage, named ‘The Down Town stage’ – the individual time trial – was held within the new city. World champion Tony Martin, who is competing in his first race after surgery in the winter, finished fourth, behind Garmin-Sharp’s Lasse Norman Hansen, winner of the 2012 Olympic omnium gold. Cummings also set an impressive time of 12’17, giving BMC a dream start. World number one Joaquim Rodriguez of Katusha, completed the course in 13’40”. “I thought I was going to beat my record of watts, I reached 490. I knew I was already in good condition as I’d worked well over the winter,” said. “If there’s an event that’s best for me, it’s anything around 12 minutes and below. I haven’t had many opportunities to ride short time trials since I’ve been pro — they seem to be phasing out short time trials and Prologues — so I was really happy when this course came out. It means a lot to win today,” Phinney said. “I’ve been thinking about this race since they came out with the race route weeks ago. I knew there would be some big names here. Specifically, Tony Martin is good in any time trial. especially on a road bike, so I’m overjoyed and relieved that I have won,” the 23-year-old said. While elaborating his strategy for the opening race, he said: “I decided to go early because of the weather report. It looked like the wind was going to build up. I hope it was the same conditions for everyone, but I don’t know. You want everyone to go at the same time, but it’s not easy when there are 125 of you.” Phinney, who claimed second place in an Argentine season warm-up last month, was quite happy with the start he got in Dubai. “After a disappointing 2013, I’ve had a good off-season. I’m fresh mentally and physically but I’ve also been training a lot. The team has a different approach this year: all the riders have individual goals, and I’m a goal-setting-type person, so I like that. Today was a big goal for me. I’m happy with the way my Dubai Tour has started.” But he is also quite aware about the challenges ahead. “The win is a big confidence booster for me. I thought I knew what I was capable of on a course like this, but I exceeded my expectations today. I haven’t won the Dubai Tour yet. There are a lot of variables in this race: wind, climbs on St 3, more wind on St 4. All I can do is take it day by day. There’s some strong competition here, but BMC has a good team, we have also Steve Cummings who is strong and in a good position, so I’m excited. It’s a short race but it’s going to be intense. A lot of things can happen over the next couple of days, we just have to stay calm, we have a good chance.” Mark Cavendish is among the riders taking part in the four-day race, which continues on Thursday with a 122km ride from Dubai to Palm Jumeirah. The second stage will cover a total of 122km, finishing at Palm Jumeirah on Thursday. The second stage, named ‘The Sport Stage’ runs through the area with the most important sports building in Dubai, including Hippodrome, the Olympic pool, the Al Qudra cycling path, the Autodrome and the amazing Golf Club. The third stage, the longest of the race at 162km, will go outside the city and through the desert to finish in Hatta. This stage will be called ‘The Nature Stage’. The fourth and final stage – 124km in length – will cross the old part of the city, passing alongside two of the most iconic Dubai buildings: the Burj Al Arab and the Burj Khalifa. This stage is known as ‘The Old Dubai Stage’. – pradeep@khaleejtimes.com Dubai Tour: On the right track The Dubai Tour first-stage got off to an overwhelming start on Wednesday afternoon. Khaleej Times photographers Juidin Bernarrd and Rahul Gajjar, along with agencies, capture some of the spectacular moments Italian cyclist Eugenio Alafaci, of Trek Factory Racing Team, rides past the Burj Al Khalifa. AFP Peter Velits, of BMC Racing Team negotiates a bend. AFP Evan Huffman, of Team Astana, during the 10 km Dubai Tour at Downtown Dubai. – KT photo by Juidin Bernarrd Fans cheers as Martin Tony of Team Omega Pharma-Quick Step nears the finish point at the DWTC.- KT photo by Rahul Gajjar Kittel Marcel of Giant-Shimano in action. KT photo by Rahul Gajjar A fan with Dinosaurs mask watches a cyclist go past. Ramunas Navardauskas of Team Garmin Sharp pedals on. – KT photo by Juidin Bernarrd Mark Cavendish, former World Champion, in action at Downtown Dubai. KT photo by Juidin Bernarrd For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Healthcare is a right and gets highest priority: Mohammed
Healthcare is a right and gets highest priority: Mohammed Staff Reporter / 5 February 2014 VP calls on all the local and federal healthcare facilities to unite efforts to provide best medical treatment. Receiving quality healthcare services is a right for every Emirati as it is directly related to the society’s welfare and happiness, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said on Tuesday, adding that citizens’ health hence would get the highest priority. Shaikh Mohammed instructed that practical measures should be placed in action to apply the national regular medical checkups programme for all citizens. He called on all the local and federal healthcare facilities to unite efforts to provide best medical treatment and to raise the UAE healthcare sector to the international standards. Shaikh Mohammed and Minister of Health Abdul Rahman Al Owais at the Government Innovation Lab sessions at JW Marriott in Dubai on Tuesday. — Wam Shaikh Mohammed’s remarks came during his participation in the Government Innovation Lab organised by the Ministry of Health at the JW Marriott Hotel in Dubai. Pursuant to directives from the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Shaikh Mohammed urged stakeholders in the public and private healthcare sector to unify their efforts to develop the medical services, construct a quality healthcare system and provide best services to people aiming to improve the quality of life. In the presence of Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai; Shaikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai; Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs; Abdul Rahman Al Owais, Minister of Health; and Essa Al Maidoor, Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority, Shaikh Mohammed exchanged ideas with participants and listened to their views about the development of healthcare services in the UAE. Shaikh Mohammed issued directives to launch the implementation phase of the mobile healthcare services programme to provide services in remote areas, especially for senior citizens. “I want to deliver healthcare services to people wherever they are, and I do not want any citizen to suffer in this aspect as it is the government’s duty to reach people at any time and in any place and provide medical treatment with the same quality we provide in other government services,” he said. During his visit to the Government Innovation Lab, Shaikh Mohammed approved a study for the establishment of a specialised medical training centre, and directed stakeholders to speed up the process to complete the establishment of the centre to provide continuing training programmes for medical cadres and train them on the latest developments the medical field. He also reviewed recommendations of a study conducted on the national regular medical checkups programme. “The UAE Government utilises its full capacity to support creative and applicable initiatives that shall contribute to achieving the community’s health and happiness and assuring quality healthcare services for citizens, in the fastest way possible,” Shaikh Mohammed said. He lauded the efforts of the team that complete the medical cadres’ standardisations unification initiative. The team was composed of the Abu Dhabi Health Authority, the Dubai Health Authority and the Ministry of Health. Shaikh Mohammed also praised the interactive response of the Ministry of Health with the instructions and initiatives that he launched through the Government Innovation Lab held recently at Sir Bani Yas. Initiatives aiming to improve healthcare services launched after the Cabinet retreat include: – Approving the launching of the mobile healthcare programme to serve citizens in remote areas specially senior citizens. – Launching a programme to evaluate hospitals and medical practices. – Approving the national regular medical checkups programme. – Establish specialised professional cadre for the public healthcare sector and develop occupational path. – Unify accreditation procedures for medical doctors and healthcare workers nationwide. – Introduce unified national standards for hospitals in the UAE. – Launching the cancer screening programme aiming to diagnose and treat cancer in its early stages. – Approving the establishment of national database for all medical records to facilitate patients’ transferring between hospitals. – Approving a set of procedures to control obesity and encourage healthy lifestyle. – Introduce a strategy to establish a medical research and development centre in cooperation with academia. – Establish a unified national record for cancer patients. – Launching the UAE Board as regional reference for all medical specialisations. – Launch a specialised training centre, with international standards, to train and qualify workers in the medical field. – Increase the appeal of nursing as a profession and introduce a programme to attract nationals to this occupation. – Launch a comprehensive programme to increase awareness about healthy lifestyles as preventive measure. – Establish unified standards for healthy diet in public and private schools. news@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
Emirates Post launches e-PO Box service
Emirates Post launches e-PO Box service Staff Reporter / 5 February 2014 Users can now see the envelopes of incoming mails lying in their post boxes on their mobile phones. Emirates Post’s PO Box users can now see the envelopes of incoming mails lying in their post boxes on their mobile phones, thanks to a new mobile service launched by the company. The e-PO Box service, which allows users to see which all mails have arrived before physically visiting their post boxes, is available on mobile devices from February 3, said Ibrahim bin Karam, chief commercial officer, Emirates Post Group (EPG). “If your post box is in Karama post office and you need to know if at all any mails have landed or if there is any important mail that you need to collect urgently, you can check it on your mobile before visiting the post office,” he told Khaleej Times . All the envelopes are generally scanned by the mail-sorting machines. These scanned images are now supplied to the users, he explained. Other e-services made available on mobile devices include track and trace; location maps for post offices; submitting customer enquiries, complaints and suggestions; complaint tracking and rate calculator. Bin Karam said in a press statement that the project is inspired by the UAE government’s Smart Government initiative, as mobile phone penetration in the UAE is among the highest in the world. The next phase of the m-Services project will see Emirates Post venturing into e-commerce by the last quarter of this year. “We see immense potential for e-commerce as Emirates Post Group boasts a world-class mailing and delivery system,” said Bin Karam. Under the e-commerce venture, he said, the company is introducing a new concept of e-greeting, in which an online greeting card will be converted into a physical card and delivered by mail to the recipient. This service will allow users to select and customise e-greeting cards, which will then be printed by Emirates Post and delivered. Such cards can be delivered locally and internationally. Another service, e-stamps, will enable people to place orders for UAE stamps from any part of the world, and have them delivered to their doorstep after making payment online using credit cards. This service is expected to attract the interest of stamp collectors in a big way. Additionally, Bin Karam said a selected range of electronic products, flowers and other items would be listed on the website, and customers will be able to order them online and have them delivered through the postal and courier network of Emirates Post Group. “We are currently short-listing suppliers for the e-commerce project. We will keep adding new categories to the catalogue as time goes by and expand the product range, depending on demand,” he added. Emirates Post’s foray into Smart Government services is in keeping with the rapid increase in users of mobile devices and smart phones in the UAE. The m-Services are also offered in line with the government’s Smart City project in Dubai. According to figures released by the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) in December 2013, mobile-phone penetration in the UAE stood at 181 per cent and smart phone penetration was 73.8 per cent, the highest in the world. sajila@khaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes , and on Twitter at @khaleejtimes Continue reading
