Another all-star cast

21-27 February | UAE | 2.UWT

It’s been three years since the UAE Tour as we know it formed, after a merger between the Dubai and Abu Dhabi Tours, and it consistently provides one of the most A-list starting line-ups of any race all year. To continue that trend and ensure that fans and media will be unable to ignore it, organisers RCS have managed to convice Mathieu van der Poel - whose Alpecin-Fenix team join the 19 WorldTour squads on the startline - that he should begin his 2021 here, rather than in Belgium at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, on his more favoured cobbled terrain. On paper it may seem a strange choice for the Dutchman, but the desert races have a history of providing a decent training ground for a run-up to the classics. Tom Boonen frequently favoured the Tour of Qatar, for instance, with its flat, wide-open roads and tendancy for crosswinds creating fast and hard racing that’s conducive to honing an engine for a tilt at Flanders and Roubaix. At least, Van der Poel will hope so come April.