Dubai: The 2017 Dubai Tour will move further into unchartered territory within the UAE following the addition of the new Ras Al Khaimah stage.
The official jerseys and race route of the fourth edition of the Dubai Tour were announced at the City Walk Extension along Al Wasl Road late on Tuesday. Saeed Hareb, General Secretary, Dubai Sports Council (DSC) was joined by Lorenzo Giorgetti, Ceo, RCS Sports and Events, Murray Simms, General Manager of Retail Banking, Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) and a host of representatives from various sponsors of the event.
The addition of a day to the fourth edition, making it a five-stage affair, will see riders take in a total of 865kms — 194kms more than they did during the last edition earlier this year and will open the Middle East season with Dubai as the frontrunner of the ‘Desert Swing’ of races to be held in February.
Participants will next head to neighbouring Gulf states for the Tour of Qatar (February 6 to 10), Tour of Oman (February 14 to 19) before returning to the UAE for the Abu Dhabi Tour on February 23-26. For good measure, the Asian Cycling Championship will keep Asian competitors occupied when the race is held in Bahrain from February 25 to March 2.
Set to be held from January 31 to February 4, the second of the five stages of the Dubai Tour will see the peloton ride through four different emirates — Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah as it heads through a flat route that goes through the Dubai Design District, the Sharjah University and the Al Marjan Island complex, the coral-shaped archipelago of four artificial islands: Breeze, Treasure, Dream and View.
“The 2017 Dubai Tour will be a very special edition because of the addition of an extra competition day. The extra stage will allow us to better explore the surrounding territories, while lengthening the riders’ stay in Dubai and keeping the media and fans’ interest in the event alive for longer period,” Hareb said at the announcement late on Tuesday.
“All these are key factors to our strategy while also helping us reward our sponsors for pushing forward this vision,” he added.
RCS Sports and Events Ceo Lorenzo Giorgetti was confident the extra fifth stage will contribute further to the growth of Dubai Tour on the regional cycling circuit. “The exposure generated by the Dubai Tour guarantees a major presence on all media platforms, locally and internationally. This race has been gradually improving each year and the heightened presence of some of the top riders is testament to this,” Giorgetti noted.
“The introduction of a fifth stage further enhances this race as one of the best in this area, ensuring that our partners get more opportunities to get closer to their target audience,” he added.
