Featured image courtesy of Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse
This is it. The World Tour racing gets underway. It should’ve already begun in Australia and Argentina with the Tour Down Under, Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and Vuelta San Juan respectively but during a pandemic things have sadly had to change.
Hopefully for this year alone, the UAE Tour will kick off the World Tour, known to cycling fans all over as the most prominent races during the year.
The UAE Tour like the early pre-lockdown races before March 2020, did fall victim to cancellations last year, although the race did start despite the spread of the virus. With two stages remaining, the race was cancelled which begged the question – why did it even start in the first place?
Thankfully with better testing, better knowledge of Covid-19 and better safety measures, this year’s UAE Tour goes ahead. Seven stages overall, the race in only its third edition after organisers decided to merge both the Dubai and Abu Dhabi Tours together.
Four flat stages for the sprinters, two mountain summits including the yearly climb to Jebel Hafeet and one single individual time trial – here are five pre-race thoughts to preview the race.
1 – A big GC battle ahead
The star names are loaded for this year’s race. Defending champion Adam Yates starts but for the first time we’ll get to see him ride for Ineos Grenadiers after transferring from Mitchelton-Scott. All eyes will be on the current Tour de France defending champion Tadej Pogačar (below), who rides for UAE-Team Emirates, the home team where expectation will be huge.
There are only two mountain stages at the race, the key days where the final general classification will be decided. Form is important as it will give an early indicator but sometimes it is hard to read. Vincenzo Nibali for Trek-Segafredo starts as does Rigoberto Urán and former world champion Alejandro Valverde – all three names are veterans of the sport and for Valverde at the age of 40, another season on the bike, is quite heroic!
2 – Near enough all the best sprinters will be racing
Get ready for a battle royale between the fast men! Last year’s green jersey winner at the Tour de France Sam Bennett starts for Deceuninck-Quick Step, the ‘pocket rocket’ Caleb Ewan will be looking for more success in the UAE, German Pascal Ackermann remains Bora-Hansgrohe’s main man for the flat and elsewhere we have Fernando Gaviria and two Italians – both the former and current European road champions Elia Viviani and Giacomo Nizzolo line up.
For Giacomo Nizzolo (below) he already has a big win to his name after winning the Clasica de Almeria. He took some impressive wins last year but maybe just maybe he could go one step further and beat other sprinters to become the number one.
For a lot of the sprinters, this will be their first race of 2021. So how we can judge their form before the Grand Tours will be hard.
3 – One of cycling’s hottest properties starts the race
Mathieu van der Poel is one of world cycling’s brightest and young talents right now. Enough said really but there is something unique about the Dutchman. He’s a renowned cyclo-cross world champion, he can mix himself among the big sprinters on a flat stage, van der Poel can time trial and in the past two years he has won some prestigious races.
2019 at Amstel Gold was one of the most unbelievable victories, Mathieu van der Poel has also taken Brabantse Pijl and just last year the biggest win of this career came at the Tour of Flanders. A first career Monument as he beat fellow cyclo-cross star Wout Van Aert, another bright talent in world cycling – a battle between two riders of a new Spring Classics era, one of 2020’s standout moments.
There is every chance that Mathieu van der Poel (below) could cause a few surprises at this year’s UAE Tour.
4 – Pastures new for Chris Froome
It was the dominant transfer story in 2020. After near enough a decade riding for Ineos Grenadiers (and previously known as Team Sky), with four Tour de France titles, one Giro and one Vuelta – the time had come for Chris Froome to move onwards.
A new team and a new look, it is going to be incredibly weird to see Froome not start in Ineos colours. Israel Start-Up Nation is his new squad and the big question is how much support will he get? His new team is significantly weaker than what he’s been used to over the years.
Chris Froome’s last race was the Vuelta when riding for Ineos Grenadiers and let’s not forget that Froome is coming back after an almost career-ending crash in 2019. The question remains as to whether he’s fully recovered and does he still have to panache to keep up with new emerging talent.
Seeing Chris Froome (below) race will just be a delight to see, his big target is of course a fifth Tour de France. Entering the record books is the aim but he will be 36 by the time the Tour arrives in late June. Froome isn’t getting any younger, so how he fares when up against stronger teams with better resources remains to be seen.
5 – Should the UAE even be hosting a cycling race?
New Covid-19 restrictions mean no crowds at most of the major races this year. But even with a virus, crowds won’t be and never has been a spectacle for racing in the Middle East.
Every year, the UAE Tour doesn’t attract mass spectators on the climbs or out on the road. At finish locations you are likely to get a few spectators but for this year we know that no fans are allowed at stage finishes – so that makes things even more demoralising. The race always rides on UAE highways but at the same time the prospect of crosswinds and sand can make for an interesting race.
Then of course comes the politics. Press freedoms and as the recent news of Princess Latifa shows, the UAE has an appalling record for women’s rights.
The UAE Tour is a ‘sportswashing’ event, so should they be even hosting a race? It is slightly unfair on the UAE population but you can absolutely understand the criticism aimed at the organisers and those ruling the country.
Five pre-race thoughts for fans to think about. The first World Tour stage race is about to begin.
