Dubai Tour: a package of scenery, speed and stars along The Palm and Burj Khalifa

Dubai cycling enthusiasts get to ride and practice at the Nad Al Sheba cycling track, one of the many venues available in the UAE. Lee Hoagland / The National

The UAE may be the path less travelled by cycling’s most celebrated riders. However, this week’s first Dubai Tour has attracted some of the sport’s most recognisable faces to compete in the city. Here are five things to look out for.

The speed

As was the case with the Dubai Marathon, 11 days ago, cycling at the Dubai Tour does not obviously lend itself to a live spectator experience.

If it were France, you could pack a picnic, camp down in an Alpine meadow and wait for the great and good of the peloton to flash past.

But in Dubai, on a workday? Lean on a little bit of experience to get maximum enjoyment.

Wolfgang Hohmann, a cycling aficionado and long-term Dubai resident, has some advice for the uninitiated.

“I think you need to find a spot where you can see the transmission of the broadcast on the TV – then quickly get away from there and go to the street and see them in real life,” he said.

“It will be over in a few seconds when they pass by. These riders will be moving at 55-60kph, maybe up to 70kph.

“It is like motorsport, you need to feel the experience of them whizzing by, even if it is for only a couple of seconds.”

The TV footage

Whether it be Tiger Woods teeing off on the Burj Al Arab helipad, or Maria Sharapova playing a pick-up tennis game inside Ski Dubai, the city has long grasped the value of sport to market the destination.

Obviously, the backdrop to the footage from the first Dubai cycling race will be a very different to the landscapes of Europe’s grand tours, for example. But it will definitely be spectacular.

“What I am really excited about is, obviously, having the riders here in Dubai, but also the pictures going around the world,” Hohmann said.

“Having the helicopters following the rider, I’m excited to see the pictures capture them, then the shot pans away and you can see they are riding on the Palm.

“When these pictures show a sporting event is taking place on a man-made island in the ocean, or when they show the riders next to the Burj Khalifa on the first stage, we are going to see some amazing pictures.”

Kittel vs Cavendish

Riders like Chris Froome, Sir Bradley Wiggins and Alberto Contador are absent, but many others of the sport’s elite have chosen Dubai as part of their preparation for the European summer.

Stages 2 and 4 here will pit the men who are considered by most observers to be the two fastest sprinters in the world.

Mark Cavendish is probably the sport’s biggest star, having won the third-most stages at the Tour de France.

He likes racing in the Middle East, too. Last year he won four of the six stages at the Tour of Qatar and took the overall general classification win.

The British rider will not have it all his own way in Dubai, though, as his young rival from Germany, Marcel Kittel, is also here.

Kittel won four stages at last year’s Tour de France, book-ending the race by winning the opener in Bastia and the final sprint down the Champs Elysees.

Tony Martin

While the Cavendish v Kittel, Britain v Germany battle is likely to be the most spectacular confrontation this weekend, tomorrow’s opening day will provide the most accessible spectator experience.

The 9.9-kilometre, out-and-back route between the World Trade Centre and Downtown Dubai in the backdrop of Burj Khalifa will be graced by the world’s leading time-trialist.

Cavendish’s Omega Pharma-Quick Step teammate Tony Martin has no real rival, if the statistics are to be believed. The German rider has been the world champion time-trialist for the past three years.

On tomorrow’s leg he could reach speeds of over 60kph – thus exceeding the speed limit of some of the roads on the course.

The post-race cycling boom

If this week goes well, Dubai could feasibly become the centre-point of cycling’s version of golf’s Desert Swing, given that there are races in Qatar and Oman.

“It is very good for the sport because in Europe many races are off because there are a lack of sponsors,” Alberto Contador said last year about races taking place in this part of the world at this time of year.

“At the moment this is perfect because at the start of the year the weather here is better. You can have very important riders here.”

A variety of new cycle paths have been constructed in the city in recent times. And having the sport’s elite riders returning here could have a considerable knock-on effect in terms of participation.

“It’s a sports event which will create awareness about cycling in the city,” Hohmann said.

“The cyclists are very excited about it. Getting the real heroes of the sport to Dubai is fantastic. It really feels like a dream coming true, having a big race here.”

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