Abu Dhabi: The scorching desert heat, strong winds and a mountain climb will make this week’s inaugural Abu Dhabi Tour a gruelling test for the riders.
Of the four stages held on consecutive days from today up to Sunday, three will definitely belong to the sprinters, but the overall winner will, in all probability, be the one who conquers stage three and Jabel Hafeet — an 11km ascent that reaches an altitude of 1,000 metres on gradients that average 7.5 per cent.
The 174km first stage takes place today from 1pm in the Rub Al Khali desert of the Western Region, finishing in the town of Madinat Zayed.
The focus of the tour will likely fall on newly-crowned world champion Peter Sagan.
But Abu Dhabi in early October will not provide ideal conditions to race and the Slovakian expressed his displeasure over the timing of the event at the pre-race press conference here. Despite the fact that both he and his Tinkoff Saxo team are expected to give everything in a bid to end the season on a high.
“After a crazy week, it will maybe be a hard race, with the long climb and the very hot weather, which I don’t like,” said 25-year-old Sagan, who will make his debut in the rainbow jersey reserved for the reigning world champion.
“I don’t understand why we don’t have rules for weather conditions. Cooler weather would be better for everyone.”
Strong leaders, climbers
Team Astana have also landed with a strong contingent and have a perfect balance of strong leaders and climbers.
One to keep a close watch on is Vincenzo Nibali, who is fresh from a sensational solo victory at the Giro di Lombardia in Italy. The team also boasts 2015 Vuelta a Espana winner Fabio Aru and Diego Rosa.
“Despite being tired after a long season, I’m happy to be here. As a team we can do well,” said Italian Aru.
The 2014 Tour de France winner Nibali was also upbeat about his team’s chances, saying: “It’s the last race of the season but my form is good after Lombardia. I hope to do well and both I and Aru are good for stages, the key climb and the overall classification. The GC is an important goal for the season.”
Injured British ace and Abu Dhabi Tour ambassador Mark Cavendish will be missed by team Etixx-Quick Step, but they have picked a dark horse as his replacement with ‘King of the Desert’ Tom Boonen.
The Belgian cannot be written off as his record of 22 stage wins and four titles in the Tour of Qatar speaks highly of his and his team’s ability to tackle harsh desert conditions.
“The wind has always been an ally for our team. We’ve specialised in these conditions for a while now,” said Boonen. “It’s hard to predict how the race will go because it’s the first edition. We need to get to know the roads and see what happens.
“We are tired after all the travel but I think we’ve got time to recover before Thursday and everything will be OK.”
Team Giant-Alpecin’s Tom Dumoulin will be teaming up with German Marcel Kittel for the final time as the latter has switched loyalties to Quick-Step as a replacement for the MTN-Qhubeka-bound Cavendish next season.
Disappointing season
Though the expectations for Kittel are low after his disappointing season marred by illness, Dumoulin has emerged as a force to reckon with and many believe he could be one to look out for in next year’s Tour de France.
“The whole environment is different for us here. The roads are very wide and flat, but it will be very hot. It is a big change and the rider who has the experience of this heat will be the rider to win the race,” said Dutchman Dumoulin, who impressed with his climbing abilities at this year’s Vuelta.
“I would like to end on a high note. But I don’t know as last I raced in Lombardia and it was disappointing for me as I was tired. It was a really difficult last week and month, but I hope to do really well here.”
Alejandro Valverde might have missed out on a podium at the Lombardia, but his fourth place was enough to ensure his Movistar team secured the UCI WorldTour Ranking title for the third year running.
The Spaniard, known for his climbing prowess, will be keen to make a mark here in Abu Dhabi.
Other possible contenders include former world champions Philippe Gilbert of BMC, Esteban Chaves of Orica-GreenEdge and Team Sky’s Elia Viviani.
