Big names, grand ambition: A 2015 Dubai Tour explainer

Gary Meenaghan runs down the basics for the second staging of cycling's Dubai Tour, beginning on Wednesday in the UAE.

A view of the peloton during the inaugural 2014 Dubai Tour in February of last year. The 2015 Dubai Tour begins on Wednesday February 4, 2015. Christopher Pike / The National / February 8, 2014

DUBAI // The Dubai Tour may be a relatively new event, with Wednesday marking only its second staging, yet it arrives with the typically grand ambitions expected of major sports events in the UAE.

Organisers already have managed to position it prominently on the calendar and attracted some of the best-known riders in the sport, such as Vincenzo Nibali, Mark Cavendish and Joaquim Rodriguez. They now hope the first race of the new year can show enough promise to justify claims that one day it can develop to be on par with the famous Giro d’Italia.

“We always look to achieve bigger and better to what we have now,” said Saeed Hareb, the secretary general of Dubai Sports Council. “We want to become one of the top tours in the world and we are doing good work. In this second year, we will do much better, and in another couple of years, we want to increase the number of stages. We will never stop.”

The UAE race, won last year by American Taylor Phinney, is the first of three Middle East events this month, with the Tour of Qatar and the Tour of Oman following up immediately afterwards.

This year’s Dubai Tour has been extended by 60 per cent and the time trial that shaped the overall classification last year has been eliminated in favour of a regular stage that includes a short climb in the southern region of Hatta.

This year’s race is likely to be decided by the bonus times offered at the end of the four stages, meaning sprinters could have a large impact on the outcome of the general classification.

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Riders to watch

Vincenzo Nibali

The Italian rider won the 2014 Tour de France and arrives as the star of the Astana Pro Team.

The Kazakhstan-backed outfit are looking to clean up their image following the doping scandal that last year resulted in them dismissing brothers Valentin and Maxim Iglinsky. In Nibali, Astana have one of only six riders in history to have won Europe’s three Grand Tours. In 2010, he won the Vuelta a Espana and three years later won his native Giro d’Italia on the snow-covered slopes of Tre Cimi de Laveredo. At last year’s Tour de France, he claimed four stage victories in three mountain ranges, perfectly showcasing his strength and power.

Mark Cavendish

The Englishman is widely regarded as the fastest road cyclist in the world, having won 43 Grand Tour stages, including the final Champs-Elysees stage of the Tour de France four times in succession. He was named British Sports Personality of the Year in 2011 and followed it up the next year by being named the Tour de France's "best sprinter of all time" by L'Equipe. After suffering a crash in the first stage of the Tour de France last year that left him with a dislocated shoulder, he missed much of the season, but returns to Dubai this week with his Etixx-Quick Step team.

Alejandro Valverde

At 34, the 2009 Vuelta a Espana winner is one of the older riders at the top of the Dubai Tour field, but the Spaniard insists he is improving with age. Recent results would indicate he is not exaggerating: since 2012, Valverde has finished on the podium at the Vuelta all three years and finished fourth – his best finish yet – at last season’s Tour de France. He also won the La Fleche Wallonne and the Clasica de San Sebastian last year, for the first time since 2008.

Philippe Gilbert

In 2011, the Belgian became one of only two riders to win all three Ardennes classics in the same season and followed it up a year later with the World Road Race Championships title. He has a reputation as a Classics specialist, after taking 11 titles in the past seven years, and on the Grand Tour has won stages of all three events, including five stages of the Vuelta. He races in Dubai as the headline act of the United States’s BMC Racing Team.

John Degenkolb

The 26-year-old German races for Team Giant-Alpecin and is one of the most highly rated young riders in the sport, having won the 2012 UCI Europe Tour, a stage of the Giro d’Italia and nine stages of the Vuelta a Espana, including Stage 4, which was contested in energy-sapping temperatures similar to what he may face this week in Dubai. Last year, he won the Gent-Wevelgem as well as the points classification and three stages of the Tour Mediterranean. After claiming the points classification at the 2014 Vuelta, he was taken to a Frankfurt hospital with swollen lymph nodes.

Where to watch

Dubai International Marine Club, Mina Seyahi

Every day, from 9am; With the riders starting all four days at the Dubai International Marine Club, it will be the prime place to speak with the athletes, get some autographs and watch them interacting with each other before they set off to tackle each stage.

Union Flag

Day 1, 1.30pm to 3.30pm; After 145km, the first stage ends with a turn at the Union Flag at the start of Jumeirah Beach Road. Position yourself there and you can witness the entire end phase as the riders race in, turn and proceed at pace back to the finish line.

Atlantis Hotel, The Palm

Day 2, 2.30pm to 3.35pm; On the second day of the Dubai Tour, a 187km stage will culminate in front of the Atlantis. A place at the tip of Palm Jumeirah puts fans between the Gulf and the finish line, which fine views of both.

Hajar Mountains

Day 3, 2.30pm to 3.45pm; On the third day, after more than 150km of flat riding, the field will face a short climb into the Hajar Mountains. As well as some of the most beautiful natural scenery the emirate has to offer, the Hatta stage of the event is also expected to produce a few surprise performances.

Burj Khalifa

Day 4, 2.30pm to 3.35pm; The Burj stage on the final day is 123km and the riders will be able to see the finish line throughout given its position at the foot of the world’s tallest building. It will act as the backdrop to the podium ceremony when the winner of the general classification stands – blue-shirted – and celebrates winning the second Dubai Tour.

Dubai Tour terms to know

Breakaway specialist: A rider who is specialised in attacking the race from the start in order to try to win the stage without having to fight at the finish line.

Bunch sprint: The riders, arriving near the finish in massive numbers and at speeds in excess of 60kph, attempt to draft their sprinters in a good position to claim the victory.

Classic: A one-day race of great prestige.

Climber: A rider who specialises in riding uphill.

Commissaire: A race judge.

Domestique: A rider who supports and works for other riders in their team.

Flamme rouge: A red flag displayed with 1km remaining from the finish line of a race.

GC: An abbreviation for General Classification, the timing splits used to determine who is winning.

Intermediate sprint: To keep the race active, points are offered along the course where the riders will sprint for time bonuses or other prizes.

Peloton: The large main group of riders.

Sprinter: Rider with the ability to generate high power over short periods.

Time trial: A solo race against the clock where riders start one at a time.

ENTERED TEAMS AND STAR RIDERS

AG2R La Mondale (FRA), Jan Bakelants (Belgium); Astana Pro Team (KAZ), Vicenzo Nibali (Italy); Bardiani CSF (ITA), Giovanni Battaglin (Italy); BMC Racing Team (USA), Philippe Gilbert (Belgium); CCC Sprandi Polkowice (POL), Grega Bole (Slovenia); Etixx-Quick Step (BEL), Mark Cavendish (Great Britain); Lampre-Merida (ITA), Filippo Pozzato (Italy); Movistar Team (ESP); Alejandro Valverde (Spain); Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team (UAE), Francisco Mancebo (Spain); Team Giant-Alpecin (GER), John Degenkolb (Germany); Team Katusha (RUS), Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain); Team Novo Nordisk (USA), Javier Megias (Spain); Team Sky (GBR), Geraint Thomas (Great Britain); Tinkoff-Saxo (RUS), Michael Valgren (Denmark); UAE National Selection (UAE), Badr Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE); United Healthcare Professional Cycling Team (USA); Marco Canola (Italy)

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