Abu Dhabi Tour

The Abu Dhabi Tour was a men's cycling stage race that took place in the United Arab Emirates, held annually between 2015 and 2018. In 2019 The Abu Dhabi Tour merged with the Dubai Tour to become the UAE Tour.

Abu Dhabi Tour
Race details
DateOctober (2015 and 2016)
February (2017)
RegionAbu Dhabi
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionUCI Asia Tour
TypeStage race
OrganiserRCS Sport
Web sitewww.abudhabitour.com
History
First edition2015 (2015)
Editions4
Final edition2018 (2018)
First winner Esteban Chaves (COL)
Most winsNo repeat winners
Final winner Alejandro Valverde (ESP)

History

When inaugurated, it was part of the UCI Asia Tour, ranked as a category 2.HC event, the second tier of professional stage races.[1] The race was initially scheduled for October, as one of the last races of the cycling season, occupying the calendar slot formerly held by the cancelled Tour of Beijing. The event is organised by RCS Sport, which also organises the Giro d'Italia and the nearby Dubai Tour.[2]

In 2015 UCI organized the first International Cycling Gala on the evening of the final day of the Abu Dhabi Tour, to celebrate the end of the cycling season. The event's organizers expressed their hope that the race be included in the UCI World Tour.[3] In 2016 the Abu Dhabi Tour started two days after the Cycling Gala in the week following the Road World Championships in Qatar.[4]

The third edition of the Abu Dhabi Tour was added to the 2017 UCI World Tour and scheduled to be held at the beginning of the season, in February 2017.[5][6]

In 2019, the Abu Dhabi Tour was merged with the Dubai Tour to become the UAE Tour.[7]

Route

The first two editions of the race were made up of four stages; three of which flat and suited to the sprinters and one mountain-top finish at Jebel Hafeet. The final stage is a circuit race around the Yas Marina motor-racing track which take place at twilight, as does the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Overall winners
Year Country Rider Team
2015  Colombia Esteban Chaves Orica–GreenEDGE
2016  Estonia Tanel Kangert Astana
2017  Portugal Rui Costa UAE Team Emirates
2018  Spain Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team

References
  1. "Abu Dhabi Tour 2015 - General Classification". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  2. Brown, Gregor (22 December 2014). "Abu Dhabi Tour added to 2015 race calendar". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  3. Farrand, Stephen (25 March 2015). "Inaugural Abu Dhabi Tour route announced". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  4. "Cycling's stars gather for end-of-season celebration held in Abu Dhabi". cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  5. "UCI expands WorldTour to 37 events". Cycling News. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  6. "The UCI reveals expanded UCI WorldTour calendar for 2017". UCI. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  7. https://www.cyclingweekly.com/tag/uae-tour
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