The new fifth stage will be a 124km parade through Dubai, passing along some of the city’s landmarks such as Meydan Racecourse, the historical parts of Deira, Port Rashid and Union Flag. The grand finale will take place in the heart of City Walk, with the Burj Khalifa as the backdrop. Claudio Peri / EPA
The new fifth stage will be a 124km parade through Dubai, passing along some of the city’s landmarks such as Meydan Racecourse, the historical parts of Deira, Port Rashid and Union Flag. The grand finale will take place in the heart of City Walk, with the Burj Khalifa as the backdrop. Claudio Peri / EPA
The new fifth stage will be a 124km parade through Dubai, passing along some of the city’s landmarks such as Meydan Racecourse, the historical parts of Deira, Port Rashid and Union Flag. The grand finale will take place in the heart of City Walk, with the Burj Khalifa as the backdrop. Claudio Peri / EPA
The new fifth stage will be a 124km parade through Dubai, passing along some of the city’s landmarks such as Meydan Racecourse, the historical parts of Deira, Port Rashid and Union Flag. The grand fin

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Dubai Tour to expand in 2017 as organisers announce fifth stage: ‘It will be very special’

Saeed Hareb, general secretary of the Dubai Sports Council, says the 2017 Dubai Tour will be a “special edition” with the addition of a fifth stage.

Ahmed Rizvi

December 13, 2016

  • English
  • Arabic

DUBAI // Saeed Hareb, general secretary of the Dubai Sports Council, says the 2017 Dubai Tour will be a “special edition” with the addition of a fifth stage.

The 2017 Dubai Tour, to be held from January 31 to February 4, will be the first of a quartet of UCI Tour events to be held in the Middle East, all scheduled for February. The addition of a fifth stage will add 194 kilometres to the 2016 distance for a total of 865km.

“The 2017 Dubai Tour will be a very special edition because of the new additional competing day,” Hareb told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday night where details of the routes for all five stages and the 2017 jerseys were also unveiled.

“The extra stage allows us to better explore the surrounding territories. Lengthening the riders’ stay in Dubai keeps the media and the fans’ interest in the event alive for longer. These are keys to our strategy and the sponsors are rewarding this vision.”

The opening day of the 2017 Dubai Tour will be the 181km Nakheel Stage, which will take riders around Dubai landmarks such as the Al Qudra cycle track and some of the city’s top construction projects including the Jumeirah Golf Estates, Jumeirah Islands and Palm Jumeirah.

The second day will be the Ras Al Khaimah Stage (188km), which will pass through four emirates — Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Qaiwain and Ras Al Khaimah.

On the third day, the peloton will ride through the Dubai Silicon Oasis Stage (200km), a new route which runs from Dubai to Al Aqah in Fujairah.

The fourth stage, the Westin Stage (172km), will take the riders through the deserts of Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah to Hatta Dam.

The final stage, the Meraas Stage, will be a 124km parade through Dubai, passing along some of the city’s landmarks such as Meydan Racecourse, the historical parts of Deira, Port Rashid and Union Flag. The grand finale will take place in the heart of City Walk, with the Burj Khalifa as the backdrop.

The organisers also unveiled the jerseys for the Tour, which will come in four colours — blue, red, white and the one displaying the colours of the UAE flag. The overall winner will get to wear the blue jersey after the end of the five stages, while the red jersey will be worn by the fastest sprinter, who has obtained the best positions in each stage and intermediate sprint.

The white jersey will be worn by the best rider under the age of 25 in the overall classification, while the UAE flag jersey will be worn by the rider with the most intermediate sprint points.

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Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites

The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.

It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.

“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.

The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.

How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers

Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.

It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.

The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.

Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.

Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.

He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.

AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”

A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.

Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.

Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.

Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.

By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.

Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.

In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”

Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.

She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.

Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.

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