The Middle Eastern campaign closes, as usual, with the UAE Tour, the only one that currently belongs to the WorldTour circuit. Naturally, the race has very recent roots - the country began to grow wealthy between the '60s and '70s with oil - and has existed under this name since 2019, after the merger of Dubai Tour (born in 2014) and Abu Dhabi Tour (2015), organized by RCS Sport.

The reigning champion is none other than Tadej Pogačar, who has won the race of his team's home country 3 times, while no Italian has ever managed to win, with Giulio Ciccone being the first to reach the final podium last year, finishing second. The race will be broadcast live on both Discovery+ and RaiSport, and TuttoBiciWeb will be on-site to cover the race and riders.

THE ROUTE

The race develops around the two cities that form the heart of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, pushing towards both the Arabian Desert and the Eastern Hajar Mountains, which descend into Oman and run along the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula.

The first stage is the most desert-like of all, so watch out for echelons, from Madinat Zayed Majlis to Liwa Palace for 144 km, as it will push into the great dunes of the Liwa Desert. For this reason, the stage is dotted with simple up and downs - including the 18.1 km Moreeb Dune cycling loop to be repeated twice - which will nonetheless put some fatigue in the riders' legs. The finish towards the Liwa fortress tends uphill, with the last 1500 meters climbing at 4% and forcing sprinters to work overtime.

The second stage moves to Abu Dhabi, specifically to the artificial Hudayriyat Island, overlooking the Persian Gulf, where a flat 12.2 km time trial will take place within an interesting cycling route. The great novelty of this edition of the UAE Tour is represented by Stage 3, which will feature an unprecedented and extremely challenging mountain finish. From the coastal city of Umm al-Qaywayn, after 183 km, riders will arrive at Jebrel Mobrah, a 13.2 km climb with an average gradient of 8.1%, with the last 6.8 km climbing at 11.8%. A true Zoncolan of the Emirates, with the added difficulty that it's February and riders are still building their condition.

On the fourth day, the race moves to Fujairah, overlooking the Gulf of Oman and hosting the start and finish of a 182 km stage. The route will push into the Hajar Mountains, but without facing particularly challenging climbs, which is why the victory should be a matter for the sprinters. The same goes for Stage 5, the Dubai stage, which starts from Al Mamzar Park and arrives at the Smart University of Hamdan Bin Mohammed for a total of 166 km without altimetric difficulties.

Stage 6 is the one that will put an exclamation point on the general classification: starting from the Al Ain Museum and arriving at the summit of Jebel Hafeet, a climb that has become a symbol of the race, where riders like Alejandro Valverde, Adam Yates, and Tadej Pogačar (4 times) have won, as well as Elisa Longo Borghini 3 times, the last just 7 days ago. The climb is 10.6 km with an average gradient of 6.9% and selection is usually guaranteed. Curiosity: Jebel Hafeet is not part of the Hajar Mountains, but is an autonomous mountain spur that practically launches itself in the middle of the Al Ain desert.

The final stage will take place entirely in Abu Dhabi, starting from the Zayed National Museum, passing in front of the Grand Mosque and the F1 Yas Marina circuit, and finishing at the Breakwater after 149 km, where a final, thrilling sprint will take place.

(Altimetry on the cover)