Landscape and dedication of organisers means Abu Dhabi Tour always destined for elite status

Following the success of the 2015 race it says much about the organisers that after just one edition, the race has been upgraded twice over, writes Osman Samiuddin.

Cyclists pass by Emirates Palace and Etihad Towers on route to their finish line at Yas Mall. Second day of the Abu Dhabi Tour, The Capital stage. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Mona Al Marzooqi / The NationalShow less

If you had flown into Abu Dhabi last October and maybe taken in some of the stages of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Tour, there was little way of knowing that the race was not already among the world's elite races.

You would have witnessed several of the world’s best teams and riders competing, including then-world champion Peter Sagan and Vincenzo Nibali, winner of the three Grand Tours.

You would have seen a sturdy mixture of challenges designed to attract all kinds of riders. You would have seen some breathtakingly close sprint finishes and you would have seen about as dramatic an end as you can hope: 150 metres from the end of an 11.7-kilometre climb, having launched an impressive counter-attack on Esteban Chaves, Team Sky’s Wouter Poels felt his front wheel wobble around a bend and then give way completely.

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He slipped, Chaves sped past for the win, and Poels was left heart-broken. He does not often win, he said then, and what a win that would have been.

At that moment, and indeed in the aftermath of Chaves’s eventual general classification win the following day, you would have been forgiven for thinking the race was already part of the World Tour.

It was not. It was a 2.1 category event, a tough race sure, but not one with elite status. It says much about the Abu Dhabi Sport Council’s (ADSC) organisation of that race – along with RCS Sport – that it never felt like it was not a top race.

And it says much about the organisers that after just one edition, the race has been upgraded twice over. On Thursday this week the second Abu Dhabi Tour begins with 2. HC status. Four months from now, next February, it takes its place as an elite UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) World Tour Race, essentially the top-level series of men’s races which includes the three Grand Tours, the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana.

“It was a great success, one of the highlights of the year,” said Graham Bartlett, chief executive of the Velon group, a joint venture of 11 of the world’s best cycling teams. Velon partners with ADSC for the race.

“I think it is testament to ADSC that they put on such a great race straight out the door. The partnership we have with them we are very, very happy with. They managed to get their race to World Tour status very quickly, which is a big achievement. That’s a real testament to go from a new race to World Tour status inside two years, a fantastic achievement.”

From the beginning the aim was to upgrade the race as soon as possible. But even as recently as April, that target still felt a little while away.

Aref Al Awani, the ADSC general secretary that day, said upgrading the race was “one of the things that has been in our planning from the very first day that we talked about the Abu Dhabi Tour”.

“Most of the requirements are there and they are satisfied with our race. But this is a long journey. During the race we can have another meeting and see from there. There is already an application but it is a long journey.”

Cycling officials believe two factors have coincided favourably for the upgrade. One is that the sport has been actively looking to expand out of its European stronghold into newer regions and markets not known for cycling tradition but which provide scope for growth.

Last year’s World Tour had 27 races but not a single one in Asia. This year’s is an expanded calendar, with 37 races including one in Qatar and in Turkey.

The other, however, is the nature of Abu Dhabi’s long-term commitment itself to cycling. That goes beyond just the staging of big professional races and deeper into the benefits of it as a recreational health pursuit for the community.

The partnership with Velon has also been smart. “When they [UCI] are looking at a race, what they want to see is a strong race, that is sustainable, that has a legacy and has a very high quality field,” Bartlett said. “If you want to be on the World Tour, you need to be having the best teams and riders there.”

Those will be on plentiful display later this week, but even more are expected next February. Better temperatures, and part of a dedicated Middle East swing in the calendar, offers more scope.

“Going to February is a completely different story,” Lorenzo Giorgetti, chief executive of RCS Sport, told www.cyclingnews.com. “We can have much longer stages. This is the largest emirate of the UAE, we could do 20 stages in Abu Dhabi – there’s a lot to show, a lot to see. So from a race perspective we could decide if it’s a race for sprinters, for climbers, or anyone, because the territory offers a lot.”

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