Dubai: The chairman of the Higher Organising Committee of Dubai Tour has backed the manifold returns the premier cycling race will bring to Dubai — and sport — in the long run.

Earlier this week, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) gave Dubai the nod to expand the Dubai Tour by a day to five stages from next year. The decision was taken during the UCI’s 185th Congress held in Doha on the sidelines of the Road World Championships that concluded with Slovakia’s Peter Sagan becoming only the second rider [after Italy’s Paolo Bettini] to successfully retain the road race world crown.

Now, organisers have started thinking even bigger for the future of the sport. In a matter of just three editions, the Dubai Tour has evolved into one of the top sporting events hosted by the DSC in its portfolio of more than 400 in a calendar year. Launched as part of the UCI Asia Tour in 2014 with a 2.1 classification, the DSC had the second edition upgraded to a 2. HC race paving the way for more UCI World Tour teams to compete since 2015.

“We have been clear on what we wanted to achieve while organising such a high-profile event in Dubai. Since the past three years we have seen the benefits and growth this race has fetched us, and it is our great desire to see the Dubai Tour climb even further as perhaps the proverbial diamond in our sporting crown,” Saeed Hareb, Chairman of the Higher Organising Committee and General Secretary of DSC, told Gulf News.

During the 2016 race, host broadcaster Dubai Sports Channel provided 21 hours of live coverage on all four stages of the race that was beamed to 177 countries worldwide. This was 65 countries more than the existing 112 nations that received live coverage of the 2015 race, indicating a 58 per cent increase.

The social media tools also recorded substantial increase with more than 53,000 followers on Facebook and nearly 9,000 on Twitter indicating a four per cent and seven per cent spurt respectively on both modes of communication.

Not one to be satisfied with such success, Hareb has now vowed to pursue the path of gaining an even higher status for the Dubai Tour. “Our aspirations are high. We are thrilled with the news of having this race over five days but we want to build on this. Our goal is to raise this event higher to 12 or even 15 stages in due course of time,” Hareb said.

Sponsors Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) has, meanwhile, lauded the perfect timing of their renewal of agreement with the Dubai Tour.

Last week, CBD — who has been associated with the cycle race since the past two years — renewed their commitment as jersey sponsor for an additional three years till the 2019 edition.

“We couldn’t have timed it better than this,” Amer M. Makki, Head of PR, CSR, Sponsorship and Events at CBD, told Gulf News.

“The Dubai Tour fits in so well with our own philosophy as one of the top banks in the region, and we want to ensure we continue this trend of backing similar sporting events in the UAE so that sport can act as a growth booster to the economy,” he added.

Among the early commitments from CBD to Dubai Sports Council from (DSC) was the organisation of the Youth Athletics Championships with a total prize fund of Dh1 million. In addition, the bank supports the Mini Dubai Tour that brings parents and their children together. The Mini Dubai Tour is normally held a week before the actual big race.

“It’s our commitment as a bank to reach out to the community we serve using sports as a medium,” Makki noted.