Is Dubai the new cycling destination?
February saw the inaugural edition of the Dubai Tour. A four stage UCI race, all kicking off each day from the World Trade Centre. From here you could catch the peloton sign on, the roll out and get your daily dose of traditional food and geek out on the latest bike bits, not a bad start to the day I’m sure you’d agree.
Castelli were proud to be the official partners and supply the leaders jerseys, each stage saw the leaders of all four classifications kitted out in the latest Castelli jersey. With Versace design and Castelli’s technical input the jerseys looked good on all of the leaders shoulders.
If you kept abreast of the sport during the race you’d know that the whole event was incredibly well received, not just by the pros competing but by the flurry of media attending, team staff and local fans. The race was strongly contested by many of the big names. There was no turning up and using it as training for later races, it was serious business for all the riders involved.
Taylor Phinney took the overall lead, Marcel Kittel stormed to 3 stage wins and a sprinters jersey plus Garmin-Sharp’s Lasse Hansen, a new recruit to the team and at his first ever pro race put in a performance that blew many of the top dogs away.
But whats Dubai like for us normal cyclist, whats it like if your not racing around the globe for a world class pro team? As we all know its a city thats been raised from the desert sands, it has 7 star hotels, the worlds tallest building, a multitude of skyscrapers , shopping centres with aquariums and super cars wherever you turn. It wouldn’t seem like an ideal place to get out on the bike. Surprise surprise though, the city has a road scene that is quickly growing.
I was lucky enough to be put in contact via the guys at Castelli with the staff at Dubai’s premier bike shop, Wolfis. 15 years ago Wolfi the owner arrived in Dubai from Germany to open a bike store, back then the cycling scene was incredibly small, with very few people par-taking in the sport.
Jump forward a decade and a half and with Wolfi plus several other bike shops popping up and promoting the sport, plus many Europeans moving to Dubai to live and work has seen the sport grow rapidly. There are now many local clubs, even super star jockey Frankie Dettori who resides in Dubai during the European winter has his own team. Frankies’s, a group of keen amateurs race and train wearing the colours of the jockeys club.
Cycling has grown that much that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid commissioned a road cycle park on the outskirts of Dubai, the Park which is roughly a 20 minuet drive from Dubai is out in the desert.
The cycle park consists of a 50km looped strip of tarmac that runs out from a central starting point, with a bike shop, cafe, parking and shower/changing facilities on site, it has all the amenities plus more than you’d need on a normal ride.
Yes, sure its pretty flat (for a guy who comes from the hills of the North west of England) and the view involves a lot of sand but theres not many countries I know of that have a purpose built road circuit of this size and infrastructure. It made for one of the more memorable ride’s I’ve done, just don’t forget to fill a bidden or three! One major advantage of this track is that it’s not open to any other road user, its purely for cyclists. During the weekends the place is brimming with locals out for a spin and during the weekdays you mainly get the serious cyclists out training before and after work.
Training groups head out from the many different locations around the city, either early in the morning or in the evening. These times are perfect for avoiding the multitude of Ferraris and Mercedes on the roads.
I hit out on a sunday evening club run with Wolfi, we met and started from the old camel racing circuit. With the futuristic skyline in the distance and 50 or so A and B grade riders we rolled out for a 2 hour ride. The route left the camel course and then took to the pretty much car free main roads. With a few long bridges to attack as hill sprints and a fast pace it made for a solid training ride.
With Dubai having so many different nationalities I’m sure not even a normal professional peloton could even claim to have as many nations in one line up. Guys from New Zealand, Peru, Germany, Britain, Switzerland, Canada and many places in between turned the heat up as the ride progressed. The view was pretty special too, the neon bright lights and gleaming metal work of the skyscrapers made for a extremely different back drop to my usual green hilly rides.
As you’d expect just like the plethora of top end cars in Dubai many of the bikes are pretty fancy too, flash looking Storks, Cervelos and BMCs sit outside the coffee shops and hang from the work stands in bike shops.
Service is second to none too, just because you may be chasing a Strava time on a 50km loop in the desert doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be treated like a pro. Wolfi pointed out that due to Dubai being a relatively long way from many of the manufactures in either Europe or Asia it was necessary to be able to offer the customer what they wanted there and then. All the latest and usually high end clothing, bikes, wheels, nutrition and kit filled Wolfis store. You could even be fitted perfectly on your chosen bike with the latest in German developed bike fitting.
For a first time visitor it was not exactly what I had expected for a city like Dubai, the whole scene impressed me. I was amazed at how many cyclist would and did turn up to training groups, huge numbers of up to 200. Then there was the sportive scene that I never got to see but was told about. When 2000 keen roadies take part in just one of the yearly sportives, you know the sports growing for the better.
I just wish I’d had a little bit longer there to check it all out, especially as Wolfi and 200 odd of his mates were taking on an epic coast to coast ride. Theres always next time.
Follow Wolfi’s bike shop: wbs.ae Facebook
Words and photo: Dave Everett – Shoddy Cycling