World time trial champion Bradley Wiggins and 2013 Tour de France champion Chris Froome may be headed to the UAE next February after their Team Sky was announced on Sunday as one of the teams set to compete in the second edition of the Dubai Tour.
Organisers released a list of 16 teams that will take part in the February 4-7 four-stage race, 10 of which are UCI ProTeams, the elite division in world cycling.
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Joining them will be four UCI Professional Continental teams, one UCI Continental in the form of SkyDive Dubai Pro Cycling Team, and a squad representing UAE national riders for the event’s national selection. America’s BMC Racing Team will be returning but without Dubai Tour defending champion Taylor Phinney, who is recovering from a broken leg, while the Astana crew – despite their recent doping woes – are confirmed along with their reigning Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali.
The Dubai Tour is jointly organised by Dubai Sports Council and Italian company RCS Sport, who are responsible for the Giro d’Italia and who recently announced they’ll be introducing a new end-of-season race, the Abu Dhabi Tour, next October.
Back for a second year, the Dubai Tour has been upgraded from 2.1 to 2.HC (above categorisation, from French hors catégorie) on the UCI Asia Tour calendar.
The inaugural edition last February started off with a time trial, which was won by Phinney, before sprint king Marcel Kittel ran away with the next three stages.
This year, organisers have opted to axe the time trial and have moved the race’s base from the Dubai World Trade Centre to the Dubai International Marine Club.
While the last edition was mainly decided in the opening time trial, the next one should be one for puncheurs (road cyclists specialised in rolling terrain with short and steep climbs).
In addition to three sprint stages, one stage will be finishing with short, sharp climbs with gradients of up to 14 per cent.
