CYCLING Skydive Dubai the new start point as Dubai Tour reveal 2018 route

Skydive Dubai will host the start of the 2018 Dubai Tour after organisers unveiled the new route and jerseys at the Hub Zero Meraas City Walk yesterday.

Taking place on February 6-10, the Dubai Tour enters its fifth edition, and while Saeed Hareb, general secretary of Dubai Sports Council, has said the “formula will be the same”, there are a few adjustments to past tours.

Firstly, the starting point for all five stages will be at Skydive Dubai, located in the Mina Seyahi area between Dubai Marina and Jumeirah Beach Residence.

Previous editions of the Dubai Tour started up the road at the Dubai International Marine Club.

The Dubai Tour fan village will therefore be moved to Skydive Dubai.

The 2018 race will also be marginally shorter than the 2017 event, totalling 851 kilometres – 14km less than this year, although the 177km Stage 4 was cancelled in the last edition due to bad weather.

The opening Nakheel stage covers 167km to the Palm Jumeirah.

The second stage will run to Ras Al Khaimah covering a distance of 190km, followed by the 190km Fujairah stage, the 172km Dubai Municipality stage to Hatta Dam and the 132km Meraas stage that concludes at the City Walk.

“We have seen the Tour event grow every passing year and in four editions this cycling event has increased in all the aspects,” Hareb said.

“We added a race day, we visited the surrounding Emirates, we increased the stages’ length and we can see the results on our roll of honour – names like Taylor Phinney, Mark Cavendish and Marcel Kittel certify our results, at least in sporting terms.”

According to Hareb, the last day is a spectacular parade entirely in the city of Dubai.

“Along the way the peloton will celebrate Dubai’s best loved monuments and landmarks,” he said.

“Just like last year the grand finale is set to take place in Al Mustaqbal Street at City Walk district with the fascinating Dubai skyline as a backdrop.”

Also unveiled at yesterday’s roadshow were the four new race jerseys.

The general classification leader will wear blue with red for the general points classification, white for the young rider classification and the UAE flag-design for the immediate sprint classification.

Germany’s Kittel is the two-time defending champion of the general classification.

The 2015 tour was won by Britain’s Cavendish and the inaugural event won by American Phinney.

Hareb also highlighted the expanding status the Dubai Tour has enjoyed since its launch in 2014 and is expecting the 2018 race to be its biggest yet.

“Last year the Dubai Tour was broadcast in 182 countries across the world. That means a 17 per cent increase compared to 2016 and 64 per cent to 2015,” he said.

“Not to mention the media. Every edition more media outlets are accredited, that means thousands of online and printed articles.

“I would like to thank all the sponsors for their support and rewards along with all the governmental authorities.”

Huraiz bin Huraiz, director of Dubai Tour, added: “We are connecting six Emirates and we always try to emphasis on new areas in every passing year by going to both the new and old parts of Dubai.

“We are cycling through the cities of Hatta, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain, Sharjah and Fujairah.”