Al Awani delighted by success of first Abu Dhabi Tour

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  • Pack mentality: Of the 18 teams that participated at the Abu Dhabi Tour.

    As 2015 comes to a close, the inaugural Abu Dhabi Tour that took place last October separates itself as a standout addition to the UAE sporting calendar.

    With cycling becoming increasingly popular across the seven emirates, and on the heels of the introduction of the Dubai Tour in 2014 – which is now annually held each February – the Abu Dhabi Tour came to life to serve as the season closer, so that the world’s top riders would start and end their year in the UAE.

    Jointly organised by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council (ADSC) and RCS Sports – who also run the Dubai Tour and Giro d’Italia – the Abu Dhabi Tour was held over four stages from October 8-11. Of the 18 participating teams, 10 were WorldTeams.

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    The likes of reigning world champion Peter Sagan and 2015 Vuelta a Espana winner Fabio Aru were in the field, which was an impressive feat for a first edition of a race. 

    The timing of the Abu Dhabi Tour was a big question mark at first as it came at the end of a gruelling season, right after Worlds. But a clever deal with Velon, a group that represents 11 WorldTeams, made sure a majority of the top sides committed to the race.

    Seven of Velon’s WorldTeams made the trip down to Abu Dhabi and both Velon CEO Graham Bartlett and ADSC secretary general Aref Al Awani, confirmed that the deal is not just a one-off.

    “This has been the first deal of this kind that the teams have done as a collective. It’s the widest that we’ve done,” Bartlett told Sport360. 

    “In the past we’ve done deals for on-board cameras or deals with respect to data but never one that has all of the elements in – a rider and team commitment, a technology commitment, a marketing commitment and a three-year position. 

    “We’ll be back next year and the year after to do more and make it better and bigger.”

    On the fourth and final stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour, live on-board bike camera footage was made available for the live television coverage for the very first time in a men’s professional race.

    That kind of innovative technology was only made possible thanks to the partnership between Velon, ADSC and RCS.

    The tour’s first edition was marred by some extreme heat. But the general feedback from the riders appeared positive and Al Awani is confident they will return. 

    “The best way to get the WorldTeams, who not only have the best riders but also have the best marketing and promotional platforms, to come to Abu Dhabi was Velon,” explained the ADSC chief.

    “The feedback has been great after the race, we also saw that Velon really helped us on social media, whether through Twitter or Facebook.

    The Abu Dhabi Tour for us will be an annual event and Velon will continue to be with us. 

    “The challenges faced by the riders were an advantage for us because it wasn’t like ‘you’re going to the Middle East for an easy race and you move on’, no. The concept from the start, knowing that we’re the last race of the season, the message is: It’s going to be a challenging race.”

    With everything Velon offered to the race, what did the company get in return?

    “It’s not really revenue sharing. There are small percentages in terms of advertising, minor financial sums that we don’t consider relevant,” explained Al Awani.

    “Let’s put it this way, our smallest sponsor paid us more than the amount attached to our deal with Velon.”

    Al Awani says finding sponsors for the race was not easy but the TV interest was high which was imperative for the event’s success. The entire four stages were broadcast live, a costly measure that is not typical of every cycling road race, as coverage is usually restricted to the final two hours of each stage. 

    “The resources available at Abu Dhabi TV and Abu Dhabi Sports channels really helped us,” said Al Awani.

    “Hosting a cycling event essentially helps you showcase the beautiful locations you have within your country. We intentionally started the race in the western region because we wanted to show people, whether inside or outside the country, what this emirate has to offer.

    “Our ambition is to hit more locations in years to come, it was our goal and duty to show the very best version of Abu Dhabi. 

    “So live broadcasting all four hours of each stage was a challenge, but we insisted on utilising the race to the maximum effect.”

    In total, 169 countries had live coverage of the Abu Dhabi Tour with ESPN showing it in South America and Eurosport broadcasting it in Europe.

    “In year one, we weren’t too focused on getting revenue from the TV rights, because we considered the media return from live broadcasting to be very high,” added Al Awani.

    “It was very very difficult to get sponsors for this event, especially that cycling is considered a new sport in the UAE. But we greatly thank the four major sponsors who supported us. ADNOC in particular understood our objectives the most.

    “Right now, we only had a one-year commitment from our sponsors but we’re working on retaining them. Etihad also played a big role, and through their partners Alitalia, they flew the riders directly to Abu Dhabi from Milan, because they were all there for the Giro d’Italia route unveiling. Abu Dhabi TV – the cost of broadcasting was very high and they shared that cost with us. And there’s a big barter deal between us. So our sponsors really helped us succeed.”

    The Abu Dhabi Tour is yet to be officially placed on the UCI’s 2016 calendar, but the ADSC believe it will still be the season closer and will take place after the October 9-16 Worlds in Qatar.

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