Team captain Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa will lead a group of prominent Bahraini riders in this two-day festival, which also includes a 160km ride, set to take place on Friday.
Shaikh Nasser will be racing alongside Yaqoub Al Hammadi, Raed Mahmood, Mohammed Abdulsamad and Abdulrahman Al Saad this weekend.
Fresh from their participation in the recently-concluded Windsor Show in the UK, the Bahrain delegation moved to Compiegne, a commune in the Oise department in northern France, ahead of today’s event, which is sponsored by Shaikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE.
Bahrain team manager Dr Khalid Ahmed Hassan had reached the French capital ahead of the team delegation arrival to ensure the completion of all matters related to the team participation and ensure smooth organisation of the 120km ride.
The programme for the 160km ride started yesterday with the veterinary inspection and trotting on the veterinary gate at the equestrian stadium.
A briefing for each team Chefs d’Equipe then took place at the press room, which was followed by team registration at the office.
The 160km ride is due to commence at 6am (Bahrain time) with more than 120 riders from Bahrain, Belgium, Chile, Spain, France, Great Britain, Oman, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, Russia, South Africa, Thailand and the UAE taking part.
On Sunday, more than 110 riders from Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Switzerland, Portugal, Netherlands, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Italy, India, Germany, France, Spain and Brazil will vie for the trophy in the Bahrain-sponsored ride, which gets underway at 6am.
The race is due to conclude between 2pm and 2.30pm when the first riders return to the equestrian stadium. The official prize-giving ceremony will then be held at 5pm.
A team of media personnel also travelled to Paris to prepare the telecast of festival. The website http://endruancebh.com was launched recently in cooperation with a French telecommunication company to provide live broadcasting of the races in France.
This all-new website is being supervised by Bahraini media representatives Hassan Al Doy, Mohammed Shareeda, Hamad Al Majed and Saddam Nasser.
The media delegation is being headed by Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa Media Office and Information Centre Director Tawfeeq Al Salehi, and includes Hamad Dawood, Mohammed Al Qallaf, Osama Mohammed, Hamad Ramadan and Khalifa Al Sherooghi.