The residents of The Pearl Qatar, one of the country’s most iconic living destinations, woke up today to the reality of road closures for the UCI Road World Championships.

Residents who left their homes at 6am found that the roads had been closed for an ‘unscheduled’ test event. It is understood that the test event was for the juniors’ individual time trial. The real practice begins tomorrow and the competition will kick off on Sunday.

“Authorities really had to take residents of Pearl into confidence and keep them briefed about road closures. This was totally disappointing and I dread what will happen in the coming days. I’m even thinking of relocating from the Pearl for the duration of the event,” said an irate resident, who requested to remain anonymous.

Special rates at other hotels

Taking advantage of the general discontent, some hotels have started offering special daily rates for residents of the Pearl. One of them is Shangri La. A Twitter user posted this.

@UCI_cycling @UCIDoha2016 Pearl Qatar residents offered special rates at Shangri La to flee the island during the event! pic.twitter.com/mo14C9SLU5

— Marina Mateski (@MateskiMarina) September 28, 2016