UAE Tour 2026, February 16-22

[Berniece]

A reminder that, after the MTF, they have three sprint stages from Thursday through Saturday, and could easily have switched one of those with today's TT to a) improve the pacing and b) ensure that all GC riders start around the same time and during the main broadcast. It's such an easy improvement and so stupid to do it this way.

Is there really a problem now? Everyone besides Del Toro can decide their own start time, so most of them will start close to each other anyway.

 

[Samamba]

Is there really a problem now? Everyone besides Del Toro can decide their own start time, so most of them will start close to each other anyway.

The problem is that the race is over after half an hour. The only reason there is to keep watching (I'm not) is cause Del Toro won yesterdays stage and is forced to start late

 

[Cycling111]

Besides, they initially thought he had to compete against Vingegaard.

 

[Rou]

Is there really a problem now? Everyone besides Del Toro can decide their own start time, so most of them will start close to each other anyway.

The annoying thing is that Toro gets punished for his victory yesterday and the casual TV viewer gets punished for not seeing the best riders live.

 

[Tim Cahill]

All sprint stages are asterisked without Timmy the horse here anyway, they should just cancel them and do a 4 stage race.

 

[Berniece]

The problem is that the race is over after half an hour. The only reason there is to keep watching (I'm not) is cause Del Toro won yesterdays stage and is forced to start late

So you just watch the first 30min instead of the last? Would you have watched from the beginning if all the GC riders started last?

 

[Rou]

Why are Tour stages broadcasted full on TV stations?
Because this is what keeps cycling alive.
But the sheikhs don't give a damn about TV viewership.

 

[Berniece]

The annoying thing is that Toro gets punished for his victory yesterday

That was their own decision... DS from RBH even said specifically they didn't want to go for the win with Evenepoel. Not saying he could've followed that sprint, he would've lost anyway, but they didn't go for it, specifically because of this ITT. Maybe UAE Team should've thought about that.

In the end it doesn't matter if Del Toro or Evenepoel wins easily, it only matters if they are close together in the end

 

[Samamba]

So you just watch the first 30min instead of the last? Would you have watched from the beginning if all the GC riders started last?

No but the official international feed hasn't even started yet. You don't have to be smart to understand that it's better to have the best riders last.

 

[Cycling111]

The problem is that the race is over after half an hour. The only reason there is to keep watching (I'm not) is cause Del Toro won yesterdays stage and is forced to start late

That's why Del Toro competed yesterday. To benefit his sponsor and force us to watch the end of the stage😂

 

[Berniece]

No but the official international feed hasn't even started yet. You don't have to be smart to understand that it's better to have the best riders last.

Yeah I understand that. I just don't think it matters that much here. In case of viewership, why doesn't the international feed start broadcast early? In Belgium VTM Go started at 9:50, so right at the start.

 

[KoopaCycling]

Another 2 hours till Del Toro right?

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Another 2 hours till Del Toro right?

Don't worry , viewers will get to see Dunbar at some point in the meantime

 

[Berniece]

Another 2 hours till Del Toro right?

1 hour

 

[Tim Cahill]

Can’t dig up last years thread on this phone to see if we were complaining about the same thing but this whole thing feels very nostalgic.

Gonna message the Paris nice organisers now to demand they televise the final stage in full.

 

[Cycling111]

Is the wind getting worse now, as expected? Since there's no specialist, we won't know until Del Toro comes out.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Del Toro is good on explosive climbs. Evenepoel is good in time trials. We learn something new every day.

 

[Cycling111]

Del Toro is good on explosive climbs. Evenepoel is good in time trials. We learn something new every day.

And Vingegaard is good on tough climbs. We would have learned from him on the mountain stage .

 

[Karl Merckx]

Last time Remco won a less than 15km TT was in Tour of Danemark 2021...

 

[Rou]

For the past 30 mins the main TV feed has been showing recorded footage of Remco, Tarling and the other riders.
I know the riders who are currently on the road are not great TTers but this is disrespectful to them and a complete joke!

 

[Berflamand]

Is the wind getting worse now, as expected? Since there's no specialist, we won't know until Del Toro comes out.

Herregodts was able to get into the (provisional) top 10 with a time gap to Remco you might have reasonably expected before the race so I don't think the conditions have worsened that much.

 

[Red Rick]

Last time Remco won a less than 15km TT was in Tour of Danemark 2021...

Last time he did a TT this short he got caught on the finish line

 

[Cycling111]

Herregodts was able to get into the (provisional) top 10 with a time gap to Remco you might have reasonably expected before the race so I don't think the conditions have worsened that much.

We'll see if Del Toro can outperform his teammates. With the power he has, in theory he should do better than in a long ITT.

 

[peterfin]

Herregodts was able to get into the (provisional) top 10 with a time gap to Remco you might have reasonably expected before the race so I don't think the conditions have worsened that much.

I think conditions are a bit worse. Herregodts is underrated. I think he is better than Hoole. Being part of UAE now should give him wings.

 

[Cycling111]

@peterfin Dan Hoole beat Tarling last year. His only victory outside the national championships. LIDL is a very good team at time trial , or at least they were last year, especially in the Giro where they were in great form.
Perhaps he has gotten worse at Decathlon.

Herregodts' best result last year in ITT (with UAE) was a tenth place in Baloise. Nineteenth in Chrono des Nations. Nothing like Hoole's victory in the Giro.