Second edition of Dubai Tour takes off - February 4 -7

Starts from the Dubai International Marine Club and ends in front of Burj Khalifa
Sprint star Mark Cavendish and Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali lead a high-calibre field for a Dubai Tour shorn of the scintillating skills of Marcel Kittel and Taylor Phinney this week.

 The Race

The inaugural Dubai tour took place in 2014, and has established itself on the international cycling calendar, with the UCI upgrading it from a 2.1 to 2.HC class race for its second running. All stages start from the Dubai International Marine Club, finishing each time in a symbolic location for Dubai. The 2015 Dubai Tour will end in the same location as 2014, in front of Burj Khalifa.

 The second edition of the Dubai Tour will take place from February 4-7 over four stages. It shall see 128 cyclists from 16 teams featuring the world’s best riders tackle road, desert and climbs in this exciting event.

The blue and red jersey winners from 2014, Taylor Phinney of the USA and Germany’s Marcel Kittel, may not be back to defend their respective general classification (GC) and sprint crowns this time around.

However, that’s not to say that this event will be shorn of quality as some of the other leading lights in world cycling lock horns in the emirate this week.

Italian rider Vincenzo Nibali is the reigning Tour de France (TDF) champion and he will be expected to spearhead Astana’s assault on Dubai’s roads and that iconic trophy.

The multi-stage all-rounder is unlikely to have it all his own way though and a lot will depend upon how his Kazakh team deliver him to the finish line from the pelaton.

Timing the finish to perfection will be imperative too as Etixx-Quick Step’s Mark Cavendish invariably doesn’t need a second invitation to triumph in a tight tussle towards the very end.

Spanish riders are often involved at the business end of proceedings as well, so Cavendish and Nibali may have to keep a close eye on Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde and Joaquin Rodriquez, of Team Katusha.

Giant-Alpecin’s John Degenkolb and Cavendish’s Etixx-Quick Step team-mate Tony Martin are strong German contenders in the absence of Kittel, whose sprint heroics could well be emulated by Slovenia’s Luka Mezgec for Giant-Alpecin.

China’s Gang Xu and Chun Kai Feng, of Chinese Taipei, will both be representing the Italian Lampre-Merida outfit here, while home hopes shall rest with SkyDive Dubai Pro Cycling’s Mohammed Al Murawwi and the UAE national team’s Badr Al Hammadi.

SkyDive Dubai Pro Cycling unveil multicultural team

The 16-strong party has a 50 per cent representation of Emirati cyclists, with the other half split equally between Africans (Four: Two Moroccans & Two Tunisians) and Europeans (Four: One Italian, One Portuguese, One Russian and One Spaniard).

Each rider brings his own experience, knowledge and skills set of specific specialities in the sport with him and it’s hoped the Europeans’ expertise and professionalism can have a lasting, positive influence on their Emirati team-mates this week and beyond.

SkyDive Dubai Pro Cycling: Mohammed Al Murawwi, Tarek Obaid, Sultan Hassan Al Hammadi, Mansoor Ali Shambih, Khaled Ali Shambih, Khalid Ibrahim, Ahmed Al Blooshi, Khamis AL Naqby (All UAE), Andrea Palini (Italy), Adil Jelloul (Morocco), Soufiane Haddi (Morocco), Edgar Pinto (Portugal), Vladimir Gusev (Russia), Francisco Mancebo (Spain), Meher Hasnaoui (Tunisia), Rafaa Schtioui (Tunisia).