Dubai ticks the right boxes: RCS official
Hopeful of roping in other top cyclists next year
Dubai: Dubai is ticking the right boxes when it comes to taking the Dubai Tour to the next level, according to a top official from organisers RCS Sport.
The Milan-based sports company has signed up on a five-year contract by Dubai Sports Council (DSC) to organise the Dubai Tour with the likelihood of a further five-year extension of the contract.
The Dubai Tour is the first experience for RCS Sport in organising an event abroad even though the Giro d’Italia that RCS Sport also runs has from time to time moved to new shores like a start in Ireland this summer. “It’s important to see so many famous cyclists come to Dubai. This means the cyclists themselves are interested in making this opening in this environment. So we can hope to extend this further by having participation from other top cyclists and we will see if this will also mean that the Dubai Tour will become more important,” Riccardo Taranto, Administrative Delegate, RCS Sport, told Gulf News.
“We see a strong commitment from all the authorities here and the recent visit of Italian Prime Minister [Enrico Letta] has further helped us in connecting our two countries,” he added.
Taranto saw no reason why Dubai could not be considered as one of the “outstation” starts to the Giro d’Italia, just like Ireland hosting the race this year. “Every year, we have many countries that are interested and we can discuss as we see a good cooperation with the Dubai Sports Council and we hope to extend this connection. If it does come up we will definitely consider Dubai,” he offered.
Another strong bond is because Milan will host the Expo in 2015 while Dubai is the next stop to this global event in 2020. “We see this as an important link as well. We want to extend internationally as we believe events like these can help us connect people and the world. We want an international environment as this will take us a step ahead,” Taranto added.
“We believe this is a first experience for us and it has gone even beyond our expectations. We undertsand there is a lot of interest in Dubai for sports and this is the first step of many to follow.”
