Many top riders will start their season in few days in the third edition of the UAE Tour (21-27 February). The provisional list of participants includes the names of Tadej Pogacar, Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali, Sam Bennett, Alejandro Valverde and Mathieu van der Poel.
The stage race in the United Arab Emirates starts on Sunday 21 February with a stage to Al Mirfa. With four flat stages, the UAE Tour is a sprinter-friendly race and so there are a lot of fast men on the provisional start list: Sam Bennett, Caleb Ewan, Fernando Gaviria, European champion Giacomo Nizzolo, Phil Bauhaus, Elia Viviani, Pascal Ackermann, Cees Bol and André Greipel.
For the overall victory, it will be between the top riders of the Grand Tours, given there’s an individual time trial on day two and mountain stages to Jebel Hafeet and Jebel Jais. GC cyclists announced at the start include Pogacar and Froome, defending champions Adam Yates, Alexey Lutsenko, Wout Poels, Jack Haig, Emanuel Buchmann, João Almeida, Rigoberto Urán, Sepp Kuss, Alejandro Valverde and Vincenzo Nibali.
Other important riders announced by the organizer are Filippo Ganna, Thomas De Gendt, Mads Pedersen and Mathieu van der Poel.
Last year, the overall victory in the UAE Tour went to Adam Yates. The Briton defeated Pogacar and Lutsenko. The stage race was canceled prematurely after a coronavirus outbreak in one of the hotels.
Read the full preview of the race HERE
