UAE Tour and Het Nieuwsblad open the grand tour
One year later, cycling returns to where it all began, the UAE Tour, the race that straddles Dubai and Abu Dhabi.The UAE Tour, which twelve months earlier could not be concluded due to the first effects of the coronavirus in cycling, consequences that we are still suffering these days and that have put the race in the Emirates as the first of the World Tour in 2021, since the Australian competitions in January were cancelled.
Obviously the UAE Tour is a race marked in red in the UAE Team Emirates calendar. "We face this UAE Tour with a responsibility that we cannot avoid, because we are talking about our race, our home race, and at the same time, due to the impact of the pandemic, it means the debut of the World Tour." says Joxean Fernández Matxin, Team Manager of the team.
"It's the race where we defend the name." he continues.
UAE Team Emirates is racing at home
There are seven stages, from Sunday to Saturday, from the 21st to the 27th of this month. A major event for UAE Team Emirates: "We will bring a team to be the protagonist from A to Z, both in mountain stages and in sprints. We have thought of a homogeneous and balanced block for all terrains. We know the route and the climbs, we have trained them during the days of concentration".
In particular, they know about Jabel Hafeet, a high finish and a key stage, where Tadej Pogačarmanaged to win a year ago. In that sense the reigning Tour de France winner admits to feeling comfortable: "It's a place that brings back great memories, because of the victory in the last edition. We know the place well, in fact we were training on that climb during the training camp". In that sense, he concludes that "the race is a very important event for the team, it's our home race, where we have to shine".
Tadej Pogačar will start surrounded by a great team in which the Colombian sprinter Fernando Gaviria will be the trump card for the sprints. Polish rider Rafal Majka is expected to wear the UAE Team Emirates jersey for the first time.
Like Jabel Hafeet, Matxin reveals that "the Abu Dhabi time trial we have also trained in situ". It will be the thirteen kilometers of the second stage, one day before the high finish at Jebel Hafeet.
"We know that we're starting with the responsible party to control the stage, but we have to keep in mind that we have four sprint finishes, where we not only want to have the race under control, but we also want to contest the victory. There will probably be quite a few teams with the obligation to take the lead," admits Matxin, who among other rivals has names like Chris Froome, Filippo Ganna and Mathieu Van der Poel, without forgetting the defender of the number one jersey, Adam Yates.
The opening of the Belgian classics
On the same day that the race concludes at Yas Mall, the great Belgian classics calendar will break in the Het Nieuwsbladthe starter race that a couple of years ago took the classic route of the Tour of Flanders, chaining Muur and Bosberg to look for the successor of Jasper Stuyven. In the Flemish contest, the duo of Matteo Trentin and Alexander Kristoff will be in action.
Both Italian and Norwegian have already taken part in some of the French races that have taken place. Trentin in fact came seventh in the sprint at the Grand Prix La Marseillaise, while Kristoff took top ten finishes in a couple of stages at the Tour de la Provence. In between will be the Haut Var, now called the Tour of the Alpes-Maritimes, where UAE Team Emirates will ride with former world champion Rui Costa and Spaniard David de la Cruz.
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