Balance plays a big part in my life both on the track and off it. To be a good cyclist it’s all about having great balance. When kids learn how to ride, it’s the first skill they look to master. It’s also important in running a winning team. UAE Team Emirates have put together a great squad for 2020 that has a good balance between youth and experience.
As one of the more experienced riders, I am delighted to have recently signed a two-year contract extension with UAE Team Emirates. It is a great boost to me to know that I have the confidence of the whole team behind me, and I am really happy to continue the progress we have made together and be a part of this great cycling project that is UAE Team Emirates.
More from UAE Team Emirates
I’ve been in the team since it switched from Lampre-Merida to the current configuration in 2017 and since then I have enjoyed a whole load of podium finishes and always relished putting on the UAE Team Emirates jersey.
Ever since I joined the team, I immediately bought into the values and share the vision the team has so it was important to me that I was able to solidify my future as a UAE Team Emirates rider for the coming seasons.
It is great to see the team putting a lot of faith in young riders. I think I’m in a great place to offer advice and share my knowledge with the likes of Tadej Pogacar and fellow compatriots Rui and Ivo Oliveira, whom have great futures in the sport ahead of them.
It’s funny to remember when I first came to the UAE five years ago as world champion and participated in the Dubai Tour; everything was so surreal and new to me. Now, I’m at the centre of the UAE Team Emirates and the UAE feels like a second home. It’s great.
It's been a fantastic two years so far, full of wonderful memories, but one that sticks out for me the most is the Abu Dhabi Tour in 2017. I won the Queen Stage after an energy sapping climb up Jabel Hafeet – it was the perfect race and brilliant timing having just joined the team.
This season has been tough. I had a bad injury in March when I was hit by a truck whilst training, but I came back strong thanks to the support from my team and a lot of hard work. Despite that setback, I was consistent throughout the year finishing in the top-10 20 times and on the podium six. Unfortunately, I haven’t tasted victory but I’m looking forward to changing those podium finishes into wins next year and doing well in the next race in Lombardia.
Il Lombardia comes after a very hard World Championship and I’m gearing up for what will be a very demanding and challenging race. This version of the course will start from Bergamo and finish in Como which isn’t exactly suited to my characteristics. I’d prefer to finish in Bergamo but have a well thought-out game plan and will look to execute this perfectly in a good performance for the team.
The team will rely on other top riders such as Daniel Martin and Diego Ulissi here due to the parcours of Lombardia being more suited to the climbers. Dan won the race in 2014 and finished in the top-10 last year so has a great chance this weekend. Diego carried his good form from Canada into Italy finishing sixth in the Giro dell’Emilia so could be our best chance of a podium finish in Lombardia.
I know this may sound strange, but I am hoping for bad weather. I love the rain and cold temperatures and will look to exploit any advantage I can gain if the weather becomes a factor that influences the race. There is a great balance in the team we are sending to Lombardia so we’ll be able to react to whatever comes our way.
Having a number of different options gives us a brilliant chance of one of us being among the head positions.
Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
if you go
The flights
Emirates fly direct from Dubai to Houston, Texas, where United have direct flights to Managua. Alternatively, from October, Iberia will offer connections from Madrid, which can be reached by both Etihad from Abu Dhabi and Emirates from Dubai.
The trip
Geodyssey’s (Geodyssey.co.uk) 15-night Nicaragua Odyssey visits the colonial cities of Leon and Granada, lively country villages, the lake island of Ometepe and a stunning array of landscapes, with wildlife, history, creative crafts and more. From Dh18,500 per person, based on two sharing, including transfers and tours but excluding international flights. For more information, visit visitnicaragua.us.
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
Directed by: RS Prasanna
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJustine%20Triet%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESandra%20Huller%2C%20Swann%20Arlaud%2C%20Milo%20Machado-Graner%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%205%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
