Moroj Adil’s Finish Line: To Be Saudi Arabia’s First Female WorldTour Cyclist
When you were a kid, what did you want to be? Some people dream of being lawyers, others want to be doctors, and some want to be professional cyclists
Moroj Adil wanted to be a doctor, or so she thought. A Saudi Arabian native, Adil, 26, wasn’t permitted to ride bicycles in her country in her early years.
Her interest in cycling was fostered through televised cycling events that she watched her late father. Despite her desire to pedal, Adil stuck to the traditional course until this year, when she was slated to start a medical internship.
“I wanted to be a doctor, then I realized [that] the medical life doesn’t suit me at all. So when I found myself really into cycling, that’s when I decided I wanted to be a pro cyclist. Being successful has a different meaning from person to person. For me, being a good athlete and a pro athlete as well, that is successful for me,” said Adil in an interview with Voxwomen.
Adil, born and raised in a small town, started cycling in 2021. To pursue her cycling dreams she moved to AlUla, the ancient Arabic city where the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) has supported women’s cycling for some time. This year, AlUla stepped up from official partner to second naming rights partner of the Australian registered UCI WorldTour cycling team, Jayco AlUla.
“There were only 4 or 5 [Saudi female cyclists] where I lived before and then when I moved to AlUla, I was the only Saudi female in AlUla who cycled,” Adil explains.
After relocating, Adil became involved with the Saudi Arabia Cycling Federation. As she continued to immerse herself in cycling, she connected with Team Jayco AlUla—Australia's first WorldTour cycling team—at this year’s Saudi Tour.
“I am now on my journey to becoming a pro cyclist. For this year, I want to concentrate and focus and to have a really good training program. By the end of the year, I really hope to join a pro team, to join the Jayco team as a rider,” she said. One of Adil’s biggest goals is to race in Paris-Roubaix Femmes in 2026.
As she dreams about and works towards clipping in with the pros, Adil is training and racing in Belgium and the Netherlands. “I will [stay] here until September, or maybe even after September, because I have a purpose and aim, and that’s to join a pro team by the end of the year. I’m trying to develop myself in this period of time,” she said.
On her journey, Adil hopes to be an inspiration for girls and women in her country.
“To be out of the comfort zone that we are used to in the Arabic and Saudi region, it is totally different,” she shared. “So to jump outside your comfort zone and do what you really want to do, be who you want to be, not what other people say they want you to be… this is what I want other girls to do.”
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