UAE Tour start list: Chris Froome, Tadej Pogačar and Caleb Ewan all down to race in 2021

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