Dubai Tour organisers vowed to build the local fanbase of the event following the conclusion of the third edition of the race.
Etixx-Quick-Step sprinter Marcel Kittel was crowned the champion of the four-stage race in front of a reasonably-sized crowd in the heart of Business Bay.
The Fan Village at the Dubai International Marine Club, which served as the race headquarters, hosted activities throughout the four days.
The #DubaiTour is done for another year. Here are some of the best snaps from Stage 4 pic.twitter.com/z8tW76VAc9
— Dubai Tour (@dubaitour) February 6, 2016
And the crowds surrounding the Team Wiggins tent each day, the Germans that waited for Kittel at the finish in Fujairah, and the Eritreans who followed Mark Cavendish everywhere he went, were all a clear indication that more and more people within the emirates are embracing the event.
But still, organisers believe there is much to be done to get more locals involved in the Dubai Tour.
“The whole effort in the future will be in building a fanbase for the event locally. Of course this year we have changed the last stage, so we need to rebuild the awareness of every stage,” said Lorenzo Giorgetti, CEO of RCS Sports and Events DMCC, who are joint organisers of the race alongside Dubai Sports Council.
“The public is growing as you can see from the images on TV. So I think the full effort will be on the local marketing.
“This year we had six world champions competing in the Dubai Tour, which from a media perspective, from an international marketing perspective, from a sport perspective, there’s no comparison with any other existing race.
“So that’s something on which to build for the future. In Dubai whatever doesn’t grow will die so we’ll need to grow again. We see how the marketing is growing on the streets. I was talking with Fabian Cancellara and he said that for him, seeing the village so full of people helps both the race and the riders.”
For the first time this year, the race went east to Fujairah on day one and Giorgetti believes it was a smart choice.
“I think it was good because for the riders to have the first stage, a long stage, quite straight, they showed that they are already very well-trained, there was a lot of speed. Everything was good, the stage finished 25 minutes before what we planned so it was very good and very well-accepted,” he said.
For the first time at the Tour, an Arab rider grabbed a jersey as Moroccan Soufiane Haddi of UAE outfit Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team clinched the youth classification and finished 10th in the GC.
“That was the cherry on the cake,” added Giorgetti.
