I think it is fair to say that my first season on the World Tour has been less than normal.
My season was halted in the middle of the UAE Tour in February due to the Covid-19 outbreak, but it’s been a tumultuous year for everyone. It really puts everything into perspective.
Credit must go to the UAE Government for acting as quickly as they did during the UAE Tour, especially when a lot of other sporting events were still going on around the world.
It's my first season at this level and my first with UAE Team Emirates. I'd been in contact with Matxin Fernandez, the team manager, for a few years and then team principal and CEO, Mauro Gianetti. It was an easy decision to join the team after seeing the way their young riders performed last season.
It is exciting to be a part of a growing team and I can’t wait to show what I can do when we get back to racing. We’ve got a lot of pro racing experience as part of the management team with Matxin, Mauro and Neil Stephens all adding a wealth of knowledge. I’m looking forward to learning from everyone when the lockdown is lifted and everything goes back to some sense of normality.
As a team we have riders from all over the world meaning we are all quarantining in different countries. I was lucky to have been able to get back to the US before things started to get really bad, so I’m at home with my family and girlfriend in Phoenix, Arizona. We are still allowed to be outside, so life isn’t too drastically different yet, aside from not going to restaurants or doing a ride to the coffee shop.
We’ve got a team WhatsApp group that has been very active. We’ve all got a lot more free time now with no racing so it’s been very fun. The morale in the squad is high. We’ve got a really good group although the majority of messages come through when I’m asleep as I’m nine hours behind a lot of the team.
During the winter the weather is perfect here, so I was able to get a really solid base of training in which allows me to be in good form early in the year and hit the ground running. I performed well in San Juan and the Ruta, so it was really disappointing the season had to come to a pause, but understandable.
With so much uncertainty in the race schedule I’ve been trying to have fun and also been on the mountain bike a lot to keep up my fitness levels. My coach, Inigo San Milan, has been great. He’s mainly advised me to just enjoy being able to ride outside and not worry too much about a structured training schedule.
As sportsmen it’s obviously important to stay fit but also keep the body and mind stress-free with the possibility of the racing calendar extending into November.
Me and my family are still healthy and we’re remaining positive about the whole situation. As long as we have our health, we are happy.
The biog
Favourite food: Tabbouleh, greek salad and sushi
Favourite TV show: That 70s Show
Favourite animal: Ferrets, they are smart, sensitive, playful and loving
Favourite holiday destination: Seychelles, my resolution for 2020 is to visit as many spiritual retreats and animal shelters across the world as I can
Name of first pet: Eddy, a Persian cat that showed up at our home
Favourite dog breed: I love them all - if I had to pick Yorkshire terrier for small dogs and St Bernard's for big
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Score
Third Test, Day 2
New Zealand 274
Pakistan 139-3 (61 ov)
Pakistan trail by 135 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the innings
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MATCH INFO
Jersey 147 (20 overs)
UAE 112 (19.2 overs)
Jersey win by 35 runs
The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK
Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV
The five pillars of Islam
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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ARGYLLE
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Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
The Word for Woman is Wilderness
Abi Andrews, Serpent’s Tail
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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The%20Mother%20
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Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history
Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)
Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.
Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)
A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.
Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)
Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.
Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)
Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.
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