Joining UAE Team Emirates has felt like a long time coming. The journey sort of started two years ago when the team started following me on the back of a strong season in the continental ranks. I was fit and performing really well, but the problem was that I had just signed for another team! That put the brakes on my transfer to UAE Team Emirates for another year, but boy am I glad to be here now.
Being the only rider in the team from the Netherlands, I remember feeling really nervous when I joined. The nerves were swiftly put to bed during the pre-season training camp in Spain, as it allowed the new riders to become familiar with the entire group and coaching staff.
Even after the first team meeting, I remember being surprised that most of the guys had heard of me. They were all extremely down to earth, interested in my journey, and determined to perform well together in the coming weeks and months.
The standard of the training camp was incredibly high. I was used to being one of the best climbers in my previous teams, but I felt I had to push myself to new levels just to compete with our guys.
The cobbled classics have been a real highlight of the season thus far, both personally and for the team. I performed well in Paris-Roubaix, or ‘The Hell of the North’ as it is refereed to.
It certainly lived up to that description. It was a really tough race. I know my capabilities as a rider and have confidence in my abilities, so to finish 13th place and be up there with the big riders was awesome. The atmosphere was amazing and to finish in the velodrome is a once in a lifetime experience I will cherish forever.
On to the Tour of Flanders, which produced one of the most spectacular performances in recent memory from Tadej Pogacar. It was something I will never forget.
The goal was clear: Put Tadej in a position to win the race. The togetherness and determination from the group to support him really motivated us to give our absolute maximum, and ultimately Tadej did something we may never see again.
On the whole, I think as a team it was one of our best years across the cobbled classics stretch. The win in Flanders is obviously a highlight, but we were certainly competitive in almost all of the races and several teammates produced strong results. It’s been a really memorable couple of months of cycling, and it has only added to my desire to do even better for the team next season.
Looking ahead to the rest of the year, my immediate focus shifts to my home race – the Amstel Gold race – which will be a special occasion, seeing so many friends and family supporting me. We have a strong group heading to the race, so we are confident of a strong showing if we all perform to our best. From there, I hope to compete in a Grand Tour event at some point this season, before finishing the year with the group of Italian races. It promises to be a season to remember.
From a team perspective, the Tour De France is the ultimate goal that we are all collectively striving towards. It’s the biggest cycling race in the world, and as one of the top teams on the circuit, we certainly have victory in our sights. It’s been a really strong start to 2023 for us, so we’re looking to keep improving and keep delivering podiums and race wins.
To our fans and partners of the UAE, thank you. You are the foundation of everything this team is built on, and we wouldn’t be able to achieve success without your continued support.
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
McLaren GT specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh875,000
On sale: now
SQUADS
Bangladesh (from): Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mahmudullah Riyad, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Taijul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadat Hossain, Abu Jayed
Afghanistan (from): Rashid Khan (capt), Ihsanullah Janat, Javid Ahmadi, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Qais Ahmad, Sayed Ahmad Shirzad, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Afsar Zazai, Shapoor Zadran
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
Brief scores:
Pakistan (1st innings) 181: Babar 71; Olivier 6-37
South Africa (1st innings) 223: Bavuma 53; Amir 4-62
Pakistan (2nd innings) 190: Masood 65, Imam 57; Olivier 5-59
The specs: 2019 Subaru Forester
Price, base: Dh105,900 (Premium); Dh115,900 (Sport)
Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 182hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 239Nm @ 4,400rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.1L / 100km (estimated)
The specs
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder
Power: 220 and 280 horsepower
Torque: 350 and 360Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT
On sale: now
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
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