Team Emirates name debutants for Tour Down Under
DUBAI: The UCI World Tour 2019 is just around the corner and UAE Team Emirates has announced a fresh looking line-up for the opening race of the season, the Santos Tour Down Under which is scheduled to take place between Jan. 15 to 20. There are debuts for winter signings Ivo Oliveira and Jasper Philipsen, whilst Tadej Pogacar, who signed his irst professional contract with the team back in August, will also make his hotly anticipated debut in Emirati colours.
The trio of new comers will be joined by team-mates Diego Ulissi, Jan Polanc, Sven Erik Bystrom and Rory Sutherland – the latter of whom will be hoping for a strong performance, riding on home soil for the first time in three years.
As the opening race on the UCI World Tour calendar, the six-stage Santos Tour Down Under provides a unique challenge to all riders, particularly those used to riding in cooler climates. The temperatures in Adelaide are set to hit upwards of 36 degrees Celsius and could prove to be a major factor for the peloton as the race develops.
The race features 30 loops around a 1.7km circuit in Adelaide, which will undoubtedly result in a hotly contested bunch sprint finish.
Stage One of the Tour Down Under will see the peloton set off from North Adelaide and head into the Adelaide Hills, where they will work their way around a circuit before turning back into the city and crossing the finish line in Port Adelaide. The second stage will push riders out into the well-known Barossa Valley. This stage has produced some sensational performances, particularly when it comes to the up-hill sprint finish, where sprinters will have to time their challenge to perfection to have any chance of taking the victory. Stage Three from Lobethal to Uraidla should be a straightforward stage for many riders, but the introduction of a 14km circuit in the closing part of the race could throw up unexpected surprises as the sprinters and their lead out teams fight for position at the front of the bunch. Riders return to the Adelaide Hills for Stage Four, for a relatively short race at just 129km. However, anyone suffering from fatigue will face the daunting task of tackling the corkscrew climb in the final 7kms and a steep downhill finish – this could be a definitive stage in the General Classification (GC) standings. The sprinters will undoubtedly dominate the penultimate stage, a flat 149.5km route from the Glenelg coast to the small town of Strathalbyn.