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Dubai Tour organisers determined to bring the best cyclists to the UAE
When the Dubai Tour was held for the first time last February, many were more concerned about the road closures disrupting the city’s traffic rather than the race.
But when the world’s best teams and cyclists descended upon the northern emirate and dashed through the streets of Downtown Dubai and Jumeirah, the excitement caught up with the city residents, who came out in scores to cheer on riders like Mark Cavendish, Tony Martin, Fabian Cancellara, Marcel Kittel and Vincenzo Nibali.
Professional cycling was initially acquainted with the Gulf region via the Tour of Qatar which came to life in 2002.
The Tour of Oman joined the UCI Asia calendar in 2010 and it was only a matter of time before the UAE joined its Gulf neighbours.
The Dubai Sports Council brought in Italian group RCS Sport, who are responsible for the Giro D’Italia, and together they organised the first edition of the Dubai Tour – a four-stage road race that opened with a time trial followed by three relatively flat stages that resulted in some thrilling bunch sprints.
Diego Maradona greeted the cyclists at the finish line by Burj Khalifa and American Taylor Phinney became the inaugural Dubai Tour champion.
Organisers received a boost recently after it was announced that next year’s edition has been upgraded from a 2.1 classification, to 2.HC, meaning more pro teams will be allowed to enter the race in 2015 (February 4-7).
Sport360° caught up with Mauro Vegni, the cycling director of RCS Sport, and Saeed Hareb, the chairman of the Organising Committee of the Dubai Tour to find out what’s in store for next year.
How do you feel about the recent news regarding the upgrade of the Dubai Tour?
Mauro Vegni: We are incredibly satisfied. This was a goal we set when we started working together with the Dubai Tour Organising Committee since day one. Teams and riders noticed it and UCI recognised the quality of the work we’ve done.
With the increase in the maximum number of pro teams that can join, can we expect Team Sky to come next year?
MV: We have many requests to participate at the Dubai Tour, many of the pro teams want to come to the Dubai Tour.
But today we are not able to confirm which teams we are going to select. We are in the process of evaluating each single request.
Will there be any significant changes to the route or stage set up? Perhaps more climbs?
MV: It’s difficult to find more climbs in a landscape such as Dubai. What is certain is that, according to this year’s experience, we will make some changes.
We are evaluating the opportunity of having longer stages as per specific request from the teams. One of the stages will be more oriented towards climbing.
Did you imagine it would get this boost so early, in just its second edition?
MV: It has been an important and fast growth. Realising it in such a short time may have exceeded our expectations, but we were convinced about the quality of our project and the excellence of our team work.
The Organising Committee’s hard work has been recognised, as well as the quality of the first edition of Dubai Tour.
What stood out for you in the first edition and what will you be improving in the second one?
MV: In the first edition the way in which the event has been welcomed locally and the desire of exceeding expectations by the Organising Committee have both been exceptional.
We are going to change the technical aspect, we are evaluating a new structure of the race to make it more interesting right up until the last stage.
How important is this Tour to promoting cycling in the UAE?
Saeed Hareb: Cycling is very important to promote the cities and Dubai Tour helped the people not only in discovering Dubai and its territories but also in discovering cycling.
The number of cyclists in the UAE definitely increased after the first Dubai Tour.
This can be seen by the number of people participating in the Flag to Flag race (from Dubai to Abu Dhabi) that increased considerably after the Dubai Tour.
The Dubai Government has been supporting the growth of cycling by building more infrastructure and cycling tracks to encourage the people to practice this sport as a healthy lifestyle choice more than just as a sport for competition.
Is there any consideration of adding stages in other emirates?
SH: We are definitely looking to increase the number of stages in the future as it is one of the most successful sport events in the UAE.
We already passed into other emirates last year, during the first edition of the Dubai Tour we passed through the Emirates of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah.
This year we are also going into the territories of other Emirates.
We are looking to grow more every year and we will definitely consider this option for the future that will help us grow in the UCI’s race classification.
Tour of Qatar and Tour of Oman have existed for a while now, what can the Dubai Tour learn from them?
SH: Both the Tours are successful and they made the first step in organising international cycling races in the Gulf and among the GCC countries.
Qatar, Oman and UAE have added value into the cycling race world and we have all promoted the importance of cycling in the gulf area.
How important is it that there are now three tours in the Gulf region?
SH: This definitely increased the attention of the UCI and of the people in our area, I am sure that in the future we will see more GCC and Asian countries starting new races.
Sport and cycling are definitely important for our kids and it is fundamental for us to support and encourage it.
I wish that in the future we will be able to have a big GCC race that will involve all the countries that are already following this sport, and keep growing this passion.
