UAE Tour 2019 from 24th Feb till 2nd Mar 2019
The inaugural UAE Tour – the only Middle East event on UCI’s WorldTour calendar – will boast an enviable line-up of cycling’s top superstars as all 18 UCI World Teams have committed their best riders to the seven-day race, which will be flagged off on 24 February and visit all seven emirates.
Some of the world’s finest riders will compete for the glittering new trophy, including the only two current professionals to have won all three Grand Tours. Starting a UAE race for the first time, Briton Chris Froome, a six-time Grand Tour champion, will go head-to-head against his Italian rival Vincenzo Nibali, who boasts four Grand Tour titles so far.
There will be two UCI Professional Continental Teams in the fray as well – American Team Novo Nordisk and the Russian Gazprom-RusVelo.
Alongside them are such famous names as the 2017 Giro d’Italia winner and former UCI World Time Trial Champion, Dutchman Tom Dumoulin; last year’s Abu Dhabi Tour winner and UCI Road World Champion, the Spaniard Alejandro Valverde; 2018’s most successful rider and Dubai Tour winner, the Italian Elia Viviani; the UCI Time Trial World Champion, Australian Rohan Dennis; and the double Dubai Tour overall champion and winner of stages at all three Grand Tours, the German sprinter Marcel Kittel.
Alongside them, other big names are expected: the Australian Richie Porte, winner of the 2019 Tour Down Under “Queen stage”; UAE Emirates’ new signing, the Colombian Fernando Gaviria; the exciting neo-pro, Belgian Remco Evenepoel; the Abu Dhabi Tour and multiple Grand Tour stage winner, Australian Caleb Ewan; the Pole Michał Kwiatkowski, Dutchman Wilco Kelderman, Slovenian Primož Roglič, and the Norwegian Alexander Kristoff.
STAGE 1: ADNOC – TEAM TIME TRIAL Sunday, 24th Feb 2019
STAGE 2: SPECIAL OLYMPICS WORLD GAMES ABU DHABI – SPRINT STAGE Monday, 25th Feb
STAGE 3: DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT – MOUNTAIN STAGE Tuesday, 26th Feb
STAGE 4: DUBAI MUNICIPALITY – MEDIUM MOUNTAIN STAGE Wednesday, 27th Feb
STAGE 5: SHARJAH – SPRINT STAGE Thursday, 28th Feb
STAGE 6: RAK PROPERTIES – MOUNTAIN STAGE Friday, 1st March
STAGE 7: DUBAI – SPRINT STAGE Saturday, 2nd March