Dubai Tour success sees organisers open talks on adding fifth stage

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  • Expansion plans: Dubai Tour organisers are hoping to add a fifth stage.

    Dubai Tour organisers have already started exploring the possibility of adding an extra stage to the four-day event in next year’s edition, but it all depends on the world cycling calendar schedule.

    Riders, including Dubai Tour champion Taylor Phinney, have expressed their hopes of seeing the competition evolve into a longer stage race while Saeed Hareb, the chairman of the organising committee, revealed that talks have already been initiated to receive approval from the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) to add an additional stage for the 2015 edition of the Tour.

    The Dubai Sports Council and Italian company RCS Sport are joint organisers of the Dubai Tour, and while the current contract covers only three years, Hareb says he is hoping to extend the deal for more seasons.

    “The race has brought people out to the streets, it introduced something new. I think all the riders were happy to see that,” said Hareb, who was then asked whether adding stages in the future is a possibility. “Yes, definitely. It depends on the space available on the calendar. We are looking to add a stage.

    “Don’t forget there is a race in Qatar right after us and another in Oman. It depends how that will work. We need to get approval to add a stage and make sure that it does not clash with other races. But if we get the approval, then why not." 

    Hareb further said that an additional stage could potentially be in a different city, citing Ras Al Khaimah and Al Ain as examples.

    Lorenzo Giorgetti, the commercial director of RCS Sport, explained how each stage of the Dubai Tour tells a different story – the Sports Stage for example passes by the top sports venues in the country.

    The Italian said a new stage would only be added if it could tell a different story.

    Meanwhile, speculation over whether Dubai can host an opening stage of the Giro d’Italia – one of the three Grand Tours which is also organised by RCS Sport – arose and Hareb said that the UAE is ready and up for the challenge.

    Giorgetti did not rule out the notion but said the Dubai Tour remains to be the priority at the moment.

    He said: “A lot of ingredients are needed to make it possible. The support of the UCI for sure, from an organisational and logistical point of view it’s very complicated. The involvement of the teams. Don’t forget that there are six-hour flights, three-hour difference in the time zone. We have to respect the spirit of cycling and we have to do it only when all the conditions are there for this to be done.”

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