2018 Abu Dhabi Tour
Male Team 21 - 25 Feb

Abu Dhabi Tour

681 Kilometers 5 Stages
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Participants list

  1. Alejandro Valverde
  2. Daniele Bennati
  3. Víctor De la Parte
  4. Antonio Pedrero
  5. José Joaquín Rojas
  6. Jasha Sütterlin
  7. Rafa Valls
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TV

The Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang prevent Eurosport 2 from showing all stages live, which means that hardcore viewers will have to switch to Eurosport Player. Race images should also be available on Abu Dhabi Sports. There are the timetables for all five days (CET): - Wednesday 21: 12.00 - 14.00 > Player - Thursday 22: 10.45 - 13.15 > Player - Friday 23: 12.00 - 14.30 > Player - Saturday 24: 11.45 - 13.00 > Eurosport 2 - Sunday 25: 12.45 - 14.00 > Eurosport 2
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Timetable

There's a three-hour time difference between Abu Dhabi and Europe. The list of start and finish times for all five stages is listed below: ???????? 1/ Madinat Zayed: 12.10 - 16.44 2/ Yas Mall - Yas Beach: 11.55 - 15.30 3/ Nation Towers - Al Marina: 13.35 - 16.42 4/ CRI Al Maryah Island: 13.15 - 15.45 (proposed) 5/ Al Ain - Jebel Hafeet: 11.40 - 16.44 ???????? 1/ Madinat Zayed: 9.10 - 13.44 2/ Yas Mall - Yas Beach: 8.55 - 12.30 3/ Nation Towers - Al Marina: 10.35 - 13.42 4/ CRI Al Maryah Island: 10.15 - 12.45 (proposed) 5/ Al Ain - Jebel Hafeet: 8.40 - 13.44
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Bonus

There will be 10-6-4 seconds available at all road stages and 3-2-1" at intermediate sprints.
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Social Media

The race's official Twitter handle is @Abu_Dhabi_Tour; the hashtag used by them is #RideToAbuDhabi. Over at @Movistar_Team we'll be offering live, on-site coverage from the Blues' performances in the race, at the same time the women's team makes its debut in the Setmana Valenciana.
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Score

The Movistar Team has finished in seventh (Valverde, 2015), ninth (Anacona, 2016) and thirteenth (Nairo Quintana, 2017) places in the individual GC of a race where they claimed team overall honours in its inaugural edition, three years ago. The Eusebio Unzué-managed squad is yet to win a stage in the Emirati race.

Stages

Analysis

01
Madinat Zayed (189km)
21 February
  1. 01 Alexander Kristoff UAE Team Emirates 4h48'24"
  2. 02 Andrea Guardini Bardiani-CSF m.t.
  3. 03 Caleb Ewan Mitchelton-Scott m.t.
  4. 19 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar Team m.t.
  5. 31 Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team m.t.
  6. 51 Jasha Sütterlin Movistar Team m.t.
  7. 58 Daniele Bennati Movistar Team m.t.
  8. 101 Víctor De la Parte Movistar Team m.t.
  9. 120 Rafa Valls Movistar Team m.t.
  10. 121 Antonio Pedrero Movistar Team m.t.
02
Yas Mall - Yas Beach (148km)
22 February
  1. 01 Elia Viviani Quick Step 3h15'30"
  2. 02 Danny Van Poppel LottoNLJumbo m.t.
  3. 03 Pascal Ackermann Bora-Hansgrohe m.t.
  4. 21 Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team m.t.
  5. 27 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar Team m.t.
  6. 52 Daniele Bennati Movistar Team m.t.
  7. 53 Jasha Sütterlin Movistar Team m.t.
  8. 81 Rafa Valls Movistar Team m.t.
  9. 116 Víctor De la Parte Movistar Team +4'07"
  10. 137 Antonio Pedrero Movistar Team +4'13"
03
Nation Towers - Al Marina (133km)
23 February
  1. 01 Phil Bauhaus Team Sunweb 3h02'55"
  2. 02 Marcel Kittel Katusha-Alpecin m.t.
  3. 03 Pascal Ackermann Bora-Hansgrohe m.t.
  4. 19 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar Team m.t.
  5. 30 Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team m.t.
  6. 77 Rafa Valls Movistar Team m.t.
  7. 85 Víctor De la Parte Movistar Team m.t.
  8. 96 Jasha Sütterlin Movistar Team m.t.
  9. 121 Antonio Pedrero Movistar Team +32"
  10. 126 Daniele Bennati Movistar Team m.t.
04
Al Maryah Island (CRI) (12.6km)
24 February
  1. 01 Rohan Dennis BMC Racing Team 14'21"
  2. 02 Jonathan Castroviejo Team Sky +14"
  3. 03 Miles Scotson BMC Racing Team +16"
  4. 09 Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team +27"
  5. 17 Jasha Sütterlin Movistar Team +38"
  6. 60 Víctor De la Parte Movistar Team +1'14"
  7. 65 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar Team +1'16"
  8. 97 Rafa Valls Movistar Team +1'46"
  9. 125 Daniele Bennati Movistar Team +2'23"
  10. 133 Antonio Pedrero Movistar Team +3'26"
05
Al Ain - Jebel Hafeet (199km)
25 February
  1. 01 Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team 4h38'47"
  2. 02 Miguel Ángel López Astana Pro Team m.t.
  3. 03 Julian Alaphilippe Quick Step +15"
  4. 17 Rafa Valls Movistar Team +1'23"
  5. 39 José Joaquín Rojas Movistar Team +4'26"
  6. 40 Víctor De la Parte Movistar Team m.t.
  7. 73 Antonio Pedrero Movistar Team +8'12"
  8. 111 Jasha Sütterlin Movistar Team +13'22"
  9. —  Daniele Bennati Movistar Team DNF

Analysis

The fourth edition of the Abu Dhabi Tour -the second one held in February, organisers looking for a place inside the UCI WorldTour calendar- significantly changes its route scheme from previous years to look more similar to what riders find in the big European races.

A fifth day of racing and an individual time trial on Saturday 24th February (12.6km) in the Al Maryah island are the biggest changes of an event which will not finish at the Yas Marina F1 circuit anymore. Sunday 25 will see the riders take on the region’s most famous climb: Jebel Hafeet, almost 11km long and with average gradients close to 7%, maximum up to 11%.

The three stages prior to the decisive weekend will, in contrary, be more similar to what has been custom in this race: flat roads, mainly urban courses -even though winds can always be a threat- and predictable sprint finishes. A perfect scenery for Alejandro Valverde and his Movistar team-mates to get completely used to the Gulf’s climate condition before the race gets decided.