Dubai: One of the top officials involved with the organising of the Dubai Tour 2014 has hailed the uniqueness of the event.
Lorenzo Giorgetti, who is commercial director with tour organisers RCS Sport has insisted that Dubai is in a perfect position to get the maximum out of the Dubai Tour to be held with a start from the Dubai World Trade Centre on February 5.
“I don’t think it would be fair to compare the Dubai Tour with any other tour in the world, and therein lies its uniqueness. Other tours have a history behind it and people have accepted these races as belonging to time. But in the case of Dubai it is a completely different story as we start afresh,” Giorgetti told Gulf News.
The Dubai Tour 2014 will be held over four stages starting from a 10km Individual Time Trial on February 5. The second stage will be 122km long and will take in various landmarks of Dubai including the Hippodrome, Hamdan Sports Complex, the Al Qudra cycle track, the Dubai Autodrome and the Emirates Golf Club.
The third stage will be 162km taking the riders out into the desert for a finish in Hatta, while the final stage will go through the heart of Dubai including the older settlements of Bur Dubai and Deira before its finish at the foot of the iconic Burj Khalifa.
“Normally a tour is about an entire country, but the Dubai race is about one city and herein lies another unique feature,” Giorgetti pointed out.
“The biggest challenge for us will lie at the operational and logistical levels. But I believe that there is a strong political will behind this event and I feel confident Dubai will rise up to these challenges and we will be able to stage one of the best races,” he confided.
Some of the top riders from across the globe will be part of the 16 teams invited, including reigning Road World Champion Alberto Rui Costa of Portugal, Giro d’Italia defending champion Vincenzo Nibali, British star Mark Cavendish and Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara, among others.
Of the 16 teams, eleven are UCI Pro Teams who will be joined by three teams classified in the UCI Asia Tour along with the UAE national team and the Sky Dive Dubai team.
“This race is not only about the strong group of riders participating. It is also about a fantastic multi-cultural team that we’ve been able to put together to organize this race. Further, there is complete harmony among the public and private sectors and this only means we can have a very successful event next week,” Giorgetti confided.
