Dubai Tour: Roads to avoid as Old Dubai gets into the cycling action

Dubai: Some of the world’s best cyclists will cover 124km in the fourth and final stage of the Dubai Tour on Saturday.

Taylor Phinney of the US emerged the overall winner for BMC Racing Team in the inaugural Dubai Tour 2014.

The final stage, also called the Old Dubai Stage, flagged off at 11:30am from the Dubai World Trade Centre.

The cyclists will head on to Shaikh Zayed Road and into the heart of the old part of the city, including Deira and Bur Dubai.

They will then move on towards the Jumeirah coastline and head back for a finish at the foot of the iconic Burj Khalifa at around 4.30pm.

Major General Mohammad Saif Al Zafein, Assistant to Dubai Police Chief for Operations Affairs, advised residents of Jumeirah to park on the side of the road not used by cyclists. “This way, residents can use their cars if they have to,” he said.

Longest stage

The third stage of the Dubai Tour on Friday, which covered 162km, was the longest.

The stage that also began at Dubai World Trade Centre ended in the scenic environs of Hatta.

Residents lined up on the route to cheer the cyclists and bask in the excitement as they sped past the backdrop of sand dunes.

Some residents turned up in sports utility vehicles and drove up dunes to get a good view of the action.

On Thursday, 40 schools decided against conducting classes to spare pupils the inconvenience of getting to school in light of major traffic diversions.

Public schools in Dubai, administered by the Ministry of Education, did not have the option to take the day off as the ministry announced they would conduct classes as usual

The high-profile Dubai Tour is a sanctioned event of the world cycling body UCI.

It has some of the biggest names of the sport such as Mark Cavendish, Rui Costa and Fabian Cancellara cycling on Dubai’s streets.