World road race champion Rui Costa (Lampre Merida) and time trial champ Tony Martin (Omega Pharma Quick Step) have both been confirmed amongst a glittering start list for the Dubai Tour, which begins on February 5th and runs for four days.
The two gold medallists from Florence 2013 will be joined by a number of other top names, including 2013 Giro d’Italia winner Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), the top current Tour de France stage winner Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma Quick Step), four time stage winner in the 2013 Tour Marcel Kittel (Giant Shimano), Tour green jersey Peter Sagan (Cannondale), former world TT champion Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing), 2013 world number one Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), 2012 Giro d’Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin Sharp) and top US time trialist Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team).
Also set to ride are other big guns such as Filippo Pozzato (Lampre Merida), Janez Brajkovic (Astana), former world champion Thor Hushovd (BMC Racing Team), Tyler Farrar (Garmin Sharp) and former Il Lombaria winner Oliver Zaugg (Tinkoff Saxo).
In all eleven WorldTour teams will compete, each numbering eight riders. There will also be three UCI Continental Teams, the United Arab Emirates national team and the Dubai Sky Dive team.
Time trial specialists such as Martin, Cancellara and Phinney plus others who have fared well against the clock in the past, such as Hushovd and Sagan, will be fully focussed on the opening stage, a ten kilometre time trial.
That opening leg will be called the Down Town stage, reflecting its setting. Day two runs 122 kilometres, passes some of the best-known sports buildings in Dubai such as the Hippodrome, the Olympic pool, the Al Qudra cycling path, the Autodrome and the Golf Club, and will be called the Sport Stage.
The following day is titles the Nature Stage and is the longest at 162 kilometres. It passes through the desert and finishes in Hatta. The Old Dubai Stage concludes the action on February 8th, again beginning at the Dubai World Trade Centre and passing through the old part of the city.
Along the 124 kilometre race to the finish, the riders will pass the famous Burj Al Arab building and the Burj Khalifa, which is the tallest skyscraper in the World at 830 metres high.
The race will be run by the Dubai Sports Council plus RCS Sport, the organisers of the Giro d’Italia, and will feature live HD coverage on a number of channels including Dubai Sports, EuroSport and RAI.
Last month the organisers said they were committed to a long term future in the sport and that they wanted to eventually extend the race to a 21 day Tour.
Dubai Tour teams and key riders:
LAMPRE – MERIDA: Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (POR), Filippo Pozzato (ITA)
ASTANA PRO TEAM: Vincenzo Nibali (ITA), Janez Brajkovic (SLO)
BANCO BIC – CARMIM: Manuel Antunes Amaro (POR), Henrique Casimiro (POR)
BMC RACING TEAM: Thor Hushovd (NOR), Taylor Phinney (USA)
CANNONDALE: Peter Sagan (SVK), Damiano Caruso (ITA)
GARMIN SHARP: Ryder Hesjedal (CAN), Tyler Farrar (USA)
MOVISTAR TEAM: Alex Dowsett (GBR), Adriano Malori (ITA)
OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP: Mark Cavendish (GBR), Tony Martin (GER)
RTS – SANTIC RACING TEAM: Simon Buttner (FRA), Alex Coutts (GBR)
SKYDIVE DUBAI PRO CYCLING TEAM: Lucas Sebastian Haedo (ARG), Mohammed Al Murawwi (UAE)
TEAM GIANT – SHIMANO: Marcel Kittel (GER), Cheng Ji (CHN)
TEAM KATUSHA: Joaquin Oliver Rodriguez (SPA), Luca Paolini (ITA)
TINKOFF SAXO: Oliver Zaugg (SUI), Matteo Tosatto (ITA)
TREK FACTORY RACING: Fabian Cancellara (SUI), Fumiyuki Beppu (JPN)
UAE NATIONAL TEAM: Majid Albalooshi (UAE), Mohammed Almansuory (UAE)
VINI FANTINI – NIPPO – DE ROSA: Pier Paolo De Negri (ITA), Takashi Miyazawa (JPN)