Pogacar, Yates and Froome headline 2021 UAE Tour
The UAE Tour race organisers, Abu Dhabi Sports Council, on Tuesday unveiled the race’s provisional entry list.
The list features some of the greatest riders in the sport of cycling, with strong batles expected for the leader’s Red Jersey, sprinter’s Green Jersey and individual stage victories.
As previously announced, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) will again go head-to-head with 2020 UAE Tour-winner Adam Yates (INEOS Grenadiers) at this year’s race. Four-time Tour de France-winner Chris Froome (Israel Start-up Nation) will also be in atendance and will be looking to put in a strong performance as he continues his spirited comeback from injury.
Joining him in the general classification batle will be a host of experienced team leaders including multiple Grand Tour-winner Vincenzo Nibali (Trek Segafredo), Giro d’italia and Tour de France podium-finisher Rigoberto Uran (EF Education - Nippo) and former World Champion and Vuelta a Espana-winner Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team).
There’ll be plenty of other riders to watch in the General Classification as exciting young prospect Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-visma) will be making his first appearance at the UAE Tour alongside Joao Almeida (Deceuninck - Quick-step), fourthplace finisher at the 2020 Giro d’italia.
Rafal Majka ( UAE Team Emirates) will join them for his second UAE Tour, and will no doubt aim to improve on his fith place overall at last year’s edition. The 2020 UAE Tour’s third-place finisher meanwhile, Alexey Lutsenko ( Astana - Premier Tech) will also be in the fight for the leader’s Red Jersey as he returns for the race’s third edition.
The list of Gc-hopefuls doesn’t end there however. Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) will ride the UAE Tour ater ending his 2020 season with a solid 6th place finish at the Vuelta a España. Teammate Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) - 10th place finisher at the 2020 Tour de France - will race alongside him. Bora - Hansgrohe, meanwhile, will also be riding with two potential GC contenders at the race - Patrick Konrad (8th place at the 2020 Giro d’italia) and Emmanuel Buchmann (4th place at the 2019 Tour de France). Fausto Masnada (Deceuninck - Quick-step), 9th place at last season’s Giro d’italia, will also be in contention for a top 5 finish.
The UAE Tour’s well-earned reputation as a sprinter’s ‘world championship’ has once again atracted some of the fastest finishers in the sport of cycling for the race’s third edition. Caleb Ewan ( Loto Soudal) will ride the race for the third year in a row ater taking the Green Jersey in 2020’s edition and two wins from two on the iconic Hata Dam uphill finish. Racing alongside him at the first Worldtour event of the season will be UAE Tour stage victor and Tour de France Green Jersey winner Sam Bennet (Deceuninck - Quick-step), also riding his third edition. Also confirmed is last year’s opening stage winner Pascal Ackermann ( Bora - Hansgrohe), who will look to repeat his success as he returns for his second UAE Tour this February, and Colombian sprinter Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates), a stage winner in the race’s first edition.