The UAE Tour is now set to be the first WorldTour race of the 2021 season, scheduled to kick off on February 21.
As the only WorldTour race in the Middle East, the event has been a popular starting point of the season for a number of star riders, including former winner Adam Yates.
This year the seven-stage race will be the first major event on the cycling calendar after the cancellation of the Tour Down Under, the traditional start of the WorldTour season, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Organisers of the UAE Tour have confirmed that all 19 WorldTour teams will be racing their event this year, which runs from February 21-27, while Mathieu van der Poel’s Alpecin-Fenix team have also received an invite.
Last year’s race was cut short due to a coronavirus outbreak – the first cycling event affected by the pandemic before the entire season was suspended for around five months – as Adam Yates was crowned overall winner.
The event, which usually features a selection of sprint and uphill finishes, will be the first time all WorldTour teams will compete against each other in 2021.
Start list details have not yet fully been announced, but the race will feature the likes of Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar, Chris Froome, Adam Yates and sprinters Sam Bennett, Caleb Ewan and Fernando Gaviria.
The route has now been announced for the third edition of the UAE Tour and it looks fairly similar to the first two with four flat days made for the sprinters with potential for crosswinds, two mountain stages up the Jebel Hafeet and Jebel Jais and one individual time trial to really give the GC a shake-up.
Last year’s second overall behind Yates, Pogačar, was in attendance at the route presentation as his team have been training in the UAE, the Slovenian said: “I’m very pleased to be kicking-off my season at the UAE Tour.
“We just had our pre-season camp in the UAE and got to do some excellent training, especially on the Jebel Hafeet, which was great.
“I’m feeling good and motivated to race. After the stage win last year I’m coming back hungry for more. This is a huge event for myself and all the team and we will be here to fight for victories at our home race.”
Organisers say the strict Covid-19 protocols will also be published before the event to ensure the safety of riders and staff.
UAE Tour 2021 start list
UAE Team Emirates
POGAČAR Tadej
POLANC Jan
GAVIRIA Fernando
MAJKA Rafal
FORMOLO Davide
BJERG Mikkel
RICHEZE Max
Ag2r-Citroen
GALLOPIN Tony
VENDRAME Andrea
BOUCHARD Geoffrey
BIDARD François
WARBASSE Larry
HÄNNINEN Jaakko
FRANK Mathias
Astana-Premier Tech
LUTSENKO Alexey
GIDICH Yevgeniy
GRUZGEV Dmitriy
DE BOD Stefan
BATTISTELLA Samuele
SOBRERO Matteo
SÁNCHEZ Luis León
Bahrain Victorious
HAIG Jack
POELS Wout
MILAN Jonathan
WRIGHT Fred
BAUHAUS Phil
CARUSO Damiano
MÄDER Gino
Bora-Hansgrohe
ACKERMANN Pascal
BENNEDETTI Cesare
ZWIEHOFF Ben
BUCHMANN Emanuel
KONRAD Patrick
LAAS Martin
SCHWARZMANN Michael
Cofidis
VIVIANI Elia
SABATINI Fabio
FERNÁNDEZ Rubén
VIVIANI Attilio
ROCHAS Rémy
VANBILSEN Kenneth
HAAS Nathan
Deceuninck – Quick-Step
BENNETT Sam
ALMEIDA João
MØRKØV Michael
KEISSE Iljo
ARCHBOLD Shane
MASNADA Fausto
CATTANEO Mattia
EF Education-Nippo
HIGUITA Sergio
GUERREIRO Ruben
URÁN Rigoberto
ARROYAVE Daniel
BISSEGGER Stefan
POWLESS Neilson
CRADDOCK Lawson
Groupama-FDJ
BRUNEL Alexys
BONNET William
VALTER Attila
LADAGNOUS Matthieu
ROUX Anthony
BADILATTI Matteo
DELAGE Mickaël
Ineos Grenadiers
YATES Adam
GANNA Filippo
SOSA Iván
ROWE Luke
AMADOR Andrey
MARTÍNEZ Daniel
RIVERA Brandon
Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
TAARAMÄE Rein
MEINTJES Louis
HIRT Jan
PETILLI Simone
VAN MELSEN Kévin
KREDER Wesley
MINALI Riccardo
Israel Start-Up Nation
FROOME Chris
HERMANS Ben
GREIPEL André
GOLDSTEIN Omer
DOWSETT Alex
ZABEL Rick
BRÄNDLE Matthias
Team Jumbo-Visma
DEKKER David
KUSS Sepp
VINGEGAARD Jonas
BOUWMAN Koen
PFINGSTON Christoph
HARPER Chris
VAN EMDEN Jos
Lotto-Soudal
EWAN Caleb
VAN DER SANDE Tosh
DE GENDT Thomas
KLUGE Roger
DE BUYST Jasper
SWEENY Harry
VANHOUCKE Harm
Team BikeExchange
GROVES Kaden
MEZGEC Luka
GRMAY Tsgabu
COLLEONI Kevin
HEPBURN Michael
BAUER Jack
SCHULTZ Nick
Team DSM
BOL Cees
DAINESE Alberto
ARNDT Nikias
DONOVAN Mark
ARENSMAN Thyman
KRAGH ANDERSEN Asbjørn
STORK Florian
Team Qhubeka-Assos
NIZZOLO Giacomo
TANFIELD Harry
HANSEN Lasse Norman
POZZOVIVO Domenico
LINDEMAN Bert-Jan
WALSCHEID Max
PELUCCHI Matteo
Trek-Segafredo
NIBALI Vincenzo
MOSCHETTI Matteo
REIJNEN Kiel
TIBERI Antonio
SKJELMOSE JENSEN Mattias
LIEPINŠ Emīls
DE KORT Koen
Alpecin-Fenix
VAN DER POEL Mathieu
PHILIPSEN Jasper
SBARAGLI Kristian
VERVAEKE Louis
VERMEERSCH Gianni
VERGAERDE Otto
JANS Roy
