Organizers for the 2014 Tour of Dubai announced the names of the 16 teams selected to take part in this year’s inaugural event.
The 16 teams scheduled to take part are Astana, BMC, Cannondale, Garmin-Sharp, Movistar, Omega Pharma-Quickstep, Giant-Shimano, Katusha, Lampre-Merida, Tinkoff-Saxo and Trek Factory Racing. There will also be four Continental teams: Banco Bic-Carmim from Portugal, Vini Fantini-Nippo De Rosa from Japan, RTS-Santic Racing Team from Taipei, Skydive Dubai and the United Arab Emirates national team. And, each team will be comprised of eight riders.
Since this is an invitation-only race, we have made sure we have some of the best names in the world of cycling,” – Saeed Hareb, chairman of the organizing committee, told the media.
"Over the past few years, cycling has received a lot of attention with the Dubai Sports Council working closely with the UAE Cycling Association in raising the profile of the sport – along with the setting up of special cycle tracks in Dubai. This, in turn, has generated a lot of interest among the local cycling community that has been growing steadily.”
The opening stage will be a 10km Individual Time Trial (ITT) known as ‘The Downtown Stage’ and will be held within the new city.
The second stage — known as ‘The Sports Stage’ will be 122km long and run through the area with some of the most important sports buildings in Dubai, including the Hippodrome, the Hamdan Complex, the Al Qudra cycling path, Dubai Autodrome and Emirates Golf Club.
The third stage — called ‘The Nature Stage’ — will be the longest covering 162 km and will go outside through the desert to finish in Hatta.
The fourth and final stage, called ‘The Old Dubai Stage’, will cover 124 kms and cross the old part of the city, giving riders and spectators glimpses of the iconic Burj Al Arab and Burj Khalifa along the way.
The inaugural edition of the Dubai Tour will take in most of the landmarks in the emirate when it is staged here over four stages from February 5 to 8.
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