Dubai Tour 2015: Who could shine?
This week’s Dubai Tour (February 4-7) is drawing big names, including Vincenzo Nibali, reigning Tour de France champion; Mark Cavendish, winner of 43 Grand Tour stages; Alejandro Valverde, winner of the 2014 UCI WorldTour ranking; Tony Martin, three times UCI Time Trial World Champion; Joaquim Rodríguez, two times winner of Il Lombardia; Philippe Gilbert, former UCI Road World Champion and John Degenkolb, 10-time winner of Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España stages.
The four road stages, totalling 663 kilometres, will kick-off Wednesday with a flat stage concluding with four laps of an 8.2km circuit and finish at the Union House Flag.
Stage two is a similar fare, with a finish on the iconic palm island for what is likely to be another bunch sprint.
The big showdown will take place on stage three when Nibali, Valverde, Rodriguez and Gilbert will go wheel-to-wheel. The organisers consider it a ‘medium mountain stage’, the riders are sent back and forth in the rugged Hajar Mountains, resulting in two climbs at 10% and one climb at 7%, while the finale is a short ascent with a steepest section of 17%. The GC riders will need to rid themselves of the sprinters on the final climb as time bonuses could otherwise come into play to settle the overall classification.
A city pan-flat stage four concludes the race with 123 kilometers, the shortest in the race, where the fast men will enjoy one final chance to test their sprinting legs.
Who could shine at the 2015 Dubai Tour?
Here’s our list of the big names to look out for.
Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep)
Ben Swift (Team Sky)
Lars Boom (Astana)
Philippe Gilbert (BMC)
John Degenkolb (Giant-ASPECIN)
Michael Valgren Andersen (Tinkoff-Saxo)
WIN THE GC LEADER’S JERSEY
We are so excited about the 2015 Dubai Tour that we have decided to give away one leader’s jersey, designed by the iconic British fashion designer and passionate cycling enthusiast Sir Paul Smith. Entering is easy and open to all Castelli newsletter subscribers and Facebook fans. The usual Castelli rules apply (see below), only one entry is allowed per person, and you enter by commenting below who you think will win the 2015 Dubai Tour.
CONTEST RULES:
1. Contest is open to all Castelli Newsletter subscribers and Facebook fans.
3. The prize drawing is open to residents of the European Union and North America.
4. This contest begins at 12:00 p.m. Central European Time (CET) on February 02, 2015, and ends at 12:00 p.m. (CET) on February 6, 2015.
5. The Castelli random-number generator will pick the lucky winners.
The 16 teams and their favorites.
AG2R LA MONDIALE (FRA) – Bakelandts, Van Summeren
ASTANA PRO TEAM (KAZ) – Nibali, Boom
BARDIANI CSF (ITA) – Battaglin, Pirazzi
BMC RACING TEAM (USA) – Gilbert, Zabel
CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE (POL) – Bole, Szmyd
ETIXX–QUICK STEP (BEL) – Cavendish, Martin
LAMPRE–MERIDA (ITA) – Pozzato, Xu
MOVISTAR TEAM (ESP) – Valverde, Malori
SKYDIVE DUBAI PRO CYCLING TEAM (UAE) – Mancebo, Gusev
TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN (GER) – Degenkolb, Mezgec
TEAM KATUSHA (RUS) – Rodriguez, Porsev
TEAM NOVO NORDISK (USA) – Megias, Verschoor
TEAM SKY (GBR) – Thomas, Swift
TINKOFF-SAXO (RUS) – Valgren, Kiserlovski
UAE NATIONAL SELECTION – Badr Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed Alhammadi, Mohammed Yousef Ahmed Abdulla
UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM (USA) – Brajkovic and Canola
For more information: dubaitour.com
Related articles: 2015 Dubai Tour leader’s jersey unveiled