Male Team 24 Feb - 02 Mar
UAE Tour
1082 Kilometers 7 Stages
The UAE Tour is the combination of the Dubai Tour and the Abu Dhabi Tour, two races in the United Arab Emirates which now become stronger and offer a richer variety of routes to continue making their mark in the UCI WorldTour.
Alejandro Valverde will defend his brilliant 2018 victory at the latter, conquered at one of the summits which will decide the overall outcome: Jebel Hafeet (10.8km at 5.4%), on Tuesday 26th February.
The race will have opportunities for all specialists: it will kick off with a 16km team time trial in Abu Dhabi, Sunday 24th; there will be a short, brutal uphill finish at the Hatta dam -a reminiscence from the Dubai Tour-, on Wednesday 27th; and a second, unvisited mountain-top finish will join Jebel Hafeet: the grueling Jebel Jais (20.6km, 5.4% avg.), the highest mountain in the entire country and the race’s decisive stage on Friday 1st March.
Between all of those, three stages for sprinters -including new places, like the finish of stage five in Khor Fakkan (Thursday 28th)-, where gusty winds could create and danger – and echelons.