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The one and only world tour race in the Middle East. Hot racing in the sand! New feature is the addition of an ITT.

Notable GC mentions: Tadej Pogacar, Almeida, Nibali, Valverde, Adam Yates (in his new INEOS colors), Sepp Kuss and of course Froome (in his new ISN colors)
Notable sprinters: Caleb Ewan, Sam Bennet, Pascal Ackermann, Mathieu Van Der Poel (fresh from his World Champs cyclocross win), Viviani, Gaviria, Nizzolo


https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/uae-tour/2021/overview
https://www.theuaetour.com/

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Live video stream available on Eurosport.

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Full startlist (not yet final): https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/uae-tour/2021/gc/startlist/startlist
 
Last edited:
Stage 1 » Al Yash › Al Mirfa (177k)

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Stage 2 (ITT) » Al Hudayriat Island › Al Hudayriat Island (13k)


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Stage 3 » Strata Manufactoring › Jebel Hafeet (166k)


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Stage 4 » Al Marjan Island › Al Marjan Island (204k)

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Stage 5 » Fujairah Marine Club › Jebel Jais (170k)

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Stage 6 » Deira Island › Palm Jumeirah (168k)

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Stage 7 » Yas Mall › Abu Dhabi Breakwater (147k)


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Swap one of the flat stages for Hatta Dam and this is slowly becoming a good race, parcours-wise.

All the big sprinters seem to be going as usual, though, so a lot of opportunities for them is not necessarily a bad thing.
Agreed with this. Hatta Dam is pretty fun.

Pogacar should be the favorite here, but Yates did destroy the field last year, so I expect a good battle between the two. Lutsenko should also be up there, and Majka usually does well here as well. Almeida is another good bet with the ITT, and then we have guys like Higuita, Haig and Kuss as well. Should be a fun race!
 
I expect Buchmann to be at a good climbing level here. He's done well here before and is usually able to reach good shape without much racing beforehand/just though training.

Others I'll have an eye out for are Valters debut with FDJ, Zwiehoffs WT debut and also Tiberis WT debut.
 
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Will be interesting to see how Ganna climbs if he has the lead after the ITT if Ineos let him ride for his own chances or if they are all in for Adam Yates.

Pogacar riding for the home team will be expected to win and avenge last years loss to Yates.

Parcours suit Almeida with the flat ITT to gap the purer climbers and the wide, well paved constant gradient climbs fit him well.
 
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Indeed, Ganna here will be interesting. The TT is 13km and flat, so he could be ahead 30", and on some climbers much more. In an interview he said A Yates will be the protected rider but an article in a Belgian journal said Ganna might try to go for the overall.

I think stage 3 might be possible, but stage 5 will be too difficult.

Almeida only lost 22" on Ganna in the Giro-prologue over 15K last year.
 
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I think stage 3 might be possible, but stage 5 will be too difficult.
I think it's the other way around. Jebel Jais is the perfect climb for someone like Pippo, always around 5-6%. In 2019 almost 30 riders finished less than a minute behind Roglic, who won the stage. Kwiatkowski only finished 16 seconds behind, Schachmann ST as Roglic.

Jebel Hafeet normally creates bigger gaps, especially if someone opens the gas early like Adam Yates did last year.
 
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