Cycling in the UAE received yet another major boost after a new professional stage race, the Abu Dhabi Tour, was announced yesterday.
The Abu Dhabi Tour, organised as a partnership between the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and Italian company, RCS Sport, will be a four-stage race taking place from October 8 to 11, 2015.
It is the second professional cycling race to come to life in the UAE within a span of two years, after RCS Sport – who are also responsible for the Giro d’Italia – and Dubai Sport Council held the first edition of the Dubai Tour last February.
The Abu Dhabi Tour will follow in the footsteps of its Dubai counterpart and will belong to the Asia Tour calendar, with a 2.1 categorisation.
The Dubai Tour had the same classification in its inaugural edition in February but has recently been upgraded to 2.HC (above categorisation, from French hors catégorie).
"We are proud to host and organise the Abu Dhabi Tour, which will show to the entire world the most prominent landmarks of the emirate of Abu Dhabi and will bring additional value to the world of cycle racing," said Aref Hamad Al Awani, the general secretary of Abu Dhabi Sports Council.
"This event is in line with the overall goal of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council to develop sport through events that reach the entire community, from the young to families, as cycling does.
"I would like to thank the Government of Abu Dhabi, which will be supporting this event and the growth of cycling by creating the infrastructure to encourage people to practice cycling as a healthy life style choice."
The route of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Tour will be announced in June 2015 and organisers say that a host of top world cycling teams and their leading riders will be coming to the UAE capital to compete for the race’s first crown.
"We are proud to advise and support the creation of the Abu Dhabi Tour under the guidance of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and the UAE Cycling Federation," said Lorenzo Giorgetti, the director of RCS Sports and Events JLT, a UAE-owned subsidiary of RCS Sport.
"This important goal is in line with RCS Sport’s strategy focused on extending its activities towards new international markets. I would like to thank the Abu Dhabi Sports Council for its contribution to growing the value of professional cycling by taking into consideration, since the beginning, all stakeholders’ expectations."
