The fourth edition of the Abu Dhabi Tour and the first extended to five stages proved worthy of the sensational field of top riders who assembled at race headquarters at Yas Marina last week.
Below are some numbers from the WorldTour race in the Middle East.
1 – the finishing position of Alejandro Valverde on General Classification. On the final podium the Spanish rider of Movistar Team proudly wore the Red Jersey powered by Al Maryah Island
2 – the number of 360° cameras used by Velon during the Abu Dhabi Tour. It has been a premier for a WorldTour event
3 – the value of the commemorative stamp – in Dirhams – issued by Emirates Post and featuring the Abu Dhabi Tour advertising campaign
4 – editions of the Abu Dhabi Tour so far
5 – stages, totalling 681.6km of racing
16:00: 11” – the total time raced by Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) according to Tag Heuer, Abu Dhabi Tour official timekeeper
19 – TV production cameras: nine at the finish, four at the start, one in each of the two helicopters, four on the motorbikes during the race
24 – the kt of the golden plate of Golden Grit, the new Abu Dhabi Tour trophy
26 – riders from Italy, the best represented country, then 12 from Germany and Spain and 10 from Russia
29 – the gap in seconds to Valverde to the winner of best young rider Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Pro Team), who wore the White Jersey sponsored by Abu Dhabi Sports Channel
32 – the countries represented by 140 athletes at the start
42.582km/h – average speed of the 2018 Abu Dhabi Tour
46 – the points accumulated by Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors), winner of the Green Jersey sponsored by Emirates Post
52.682km/h – the average speed of the Abu Dhabi Tour’s fastest stage ever, the time trial won by the Australian Rohan Dennis from BMC Racing Team
65.2km/h – the speed of Alexander Kristoff in full flight in Stage 1’s bunch sprint. Caleb Ewan maxed out at 63.8km/h, Elia Viviani at 63.2km/h as measured by Velon
73 – Mercedes vehicles involved in the race, all supplied by the Emirates Motor Company
76 – the dossard number of Nikolay Trusov (Gazprom – Rusvelo), winner of the Black Jersey sponsored by Etihad Airways
83 – media outlets accredited, for a total of 125 journalists and 48 photographers
116 – vehicles in total including cars, vans and team cars provided by Hertz
132 – riders at the finish
193 – countries providing TV coverage. One more compared to 2017, and +14 compared to the first edition in 2015 (169)
524 – the number of participants over the three stages of the Abu Dhabi Tour Challenge at Jebel Hafeet and Yas Marina Circuit on 2, 11 and 20th February
735W – Alejandro Valverde’s peak power in watts during the decisive attack on the ascent of Jebel Hafeet on Stage 5, as measured by Velon
976 – the number of water bottles, specially designed by children for the Abu Dhabi Tour and exhibited in the kids areas at Stage 1, 3 and 5, and as part of the Water Bottles Art Exhibition
1,461 – students from nine different schools attending the hour-long class of the Educational project powered by Abu Dhabi Tour in collaboration with Adek during February.
2,050km – approx covered by the Advertising Caravan all across Abu Dhabi before and during the race
2,122 – total accreditations printed
3,107 – articles published online about the Abu Dhabi Tour from 21 to 25 February
3,500 – people who watched the Abu Dhabi Tour at Nation Towers, the race’s official Fan Zone
18,000 – kg of team equipment delivered from 17 different nations on a total of 1,014 different flights – thanks to our partner, Etihad
47,000 – Abu Dhabi Tour Facebook fans, +34.3% compared to February 2017
317,000 – page views per day for abudhabitour.com +9.3% compared to the last edition
