UAE Tour 2022 – Overall preview

By @EchelonsHub

It is the opening race of the World Tour calendar and in the UAE, as every year, there will be a feast of flat roads and cycling superstars. The seven day stage-race features a whole bunch of stages for the sprinters, alongside a couple of days where the climbers can make their power shown, and a short time-trial just to motivate some more riders to come along. 

The Route

Pan-flat stage, the final straight is 60 kilometers long which has honestly shocked me when I saw it! 

Pan-flat stage number 2. 

Time-trial time. Only 9 kilometers, they won’t surely make many differences, but it will put some order in the GC contenders before they tackle the mountains. 

Stage 4 goes up to Jebel Jais, on what can perhaps be called the most mountainous stage. Now don’t be mistaken, this was never a climb where big differences were made, but being the first of the mountain stages this year may motivate more aggressive racing in comparison with the past, maybe it’ll be different this year. 

Sprint stage number 3, nothing special to bring up. 

What I call the Dubai tourism stage, at least it will not be a day through desert straightforward roads, but a fourth sprint is imminent. 

Final and queen stage. After a day of pan-flat riding the peloton will face the explosive Jebel Hafeet climb. Usually enough to make good gaps, top-notch climbers will be here and it is likely that the GC will be decided on this day, as the race comes to an end. 

Weather for the Week 

Some heat and some windy stages. This will not be a pleasant week for those who can’t handle the echelons I can tell you that. 

GC Contenders 

With the defending champion on the list and racing for the team’s home country it will be hard to see UAE come here without the ambitions of winning. Despite a recent bout of Covid, Tadej Pogacar comes as the likely main favourite taking into account the conditions the riders will face, with João Almeida, George Bennett and Rafal Majka co-leading or backing him up if needed. To rival him will be several high quality stage racers, perhaps most noticeably Aleksandr Vlasov who’s been on flying form so far this season and is leading a strong Bora squad with Patrick Konrad and Jai Hindley as alternatives. 

Adam Yates has been adamant in his performances here over the last few years and will also be a dangerous GC rider, between the main favourites, leading INEOS. Bahrain will have Pello Bilbao and Gino Mader coming in to fight for the overall classification, DSM will have Romain Bardet starting off his season, Jumbo-Visma should have Tom Dumoulin back as the main card to play in a race that suits him, and some of the protagonists of the Tour of Oman will also be wildcards for the GC here, Jan Hirt and Fausto Masnada mainly. 

The Sprinters 

As for the sprinters, it is no surprise that a world class field will be here, despite missing Ewan and Jakobsen who are busy winning in Europe. Mark Cavendish will lead Quick-Step’s leadout, Jasper Philipsen will be with Alpecin’s, Elia Viviani for INEOS, Arnaud Démare for Groupama, Mads Pedersen for Trek, Sam Bennett for BORA, Pascal Ackermann for UAE, Dylan Groenewegen for BikeExchange, Cees Bol and Alberto Dainese for DSM, Olav Kooij for Jumbo-Visma, Rudy Barbier for Israel and Matteo Malucelli for Gazprom. 

This is an absolute world class sprinter field, possibly the strongest we’ll see all year long. 

Prediction Time 

⭐⭐⭐Pogacar, Vlasov, A.Yates ⭐⭐Almeida, Dumoulin ⭐Hindley, Konrad, Bilbao, Mader, Bardet, Hirt, Masnada 

I think despite not having the ideal run-up, Tadej Pogacar will have another title to his hands. Very complete rider, should be his race to loose despite the strong competition. 

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