Cycling year kicks off in the Emirates
A year after the pandemic forced the cancellation of the UAE Tour's finale, the Emirati round is back to mark the start of world cycling's top class calendar after the races scheduled for Australia in January had to be cancelled. Thus, the peloton of the most important teams is finally getting underway with many of its big names present in Abu Dhabi, where the first stage of the Emirati round will be held today.
There was the Giro, Tour and Vuelta, but the 2020 cycling season did not exactly respond to normality. Like all other sports, cycling was hit by the pandemic and its three big races did a formidable survival exercise. Months after seeing cyclists suffer in the rain and snow - a rarity when held in the warmer months of the year - the peloton is trying to get back to normal with the start of the UCIWorld Tour, the first race of which will be held from today until next Sunday in the United Arab Emirates.
Many of the current stars are there, such as Pogacar - 2020 Tour champion -, Chris Froome or Alejandro Valverde. All with the aim of gradually getting in shape in the hope that the coronavirus will not hit the cycling calendar again in 2021. The UAE, the first stage race of World Tour category, will be divided into seven days with a predominantly flat profile, but with attractive climbs in several of the stages, especially in the fifth, with the mythical Jebel Jais finish, more than 20 kilometres with an average gradient of 5.4.
Tadej Pogacar, who is racing at home and wants to start the year of his confirmation well, wants to be a protagonist in them. "I can't wait to start. Between the holidays and the pre-season I spent a lot of time in the Emirates and I would love to win here", admits the Slovenian, who will not have it easy to finish at the top of the general standings.
He will be joined at the start in Abu Dhabi by other favourites such as Chris Froome, who will be making his debut in his new Israel Start Up Nation jersey. "I start the 2021 season with great enthusiasm, it will be my first race with the new team and the beginning of a new and exciting adventure for me," said the Briton, who is confident of regaining his throne in the Tour de France next summer.
Vincenzo Nibali and Alejandro Valverde will be other contenders for victory in the first big race of the season. The Spaniard, champion in 2018 and second last year when the round was stopped due to the coronavirus, will race it for the last time after having already announced that this will be his farewell season of cycling. Adam Yates, Ineos' new signing and winner in 2019, will be looking to repeat his success in the Emirates with the aim of carrying that good taste in his mouth into the rest of the season.
