The place where it all began a year ago, Covid-19 in cycling. This year it seems to be one of the race that's actually been the most stable and safe, never put into question wether it would be raced or not. Good weather, non-dangerous roads, World-Tour points, some summit finishes, a time-trial and a heap load of sprint stages once again convince a big army of stars to step forward and have their share of racing in the desert.
The Route
Sprint number 1.
A 13.1 kilometer long individual time-trial. The only time the race had a similar one was in 2018, it won't be the most important day but these individual kilometers will put order in the climbers' GC.
First summit finish, the classic _________/ is the format, a sole mountain in the classic Jebel Hafeet, normally an exciting summit finish, it will be essential for the GC being the climb that can make the most differences.
Sprint number 2.
Jebel Jais, the new summit finish of the race. The stage isn't as pan-flat but it's nevertheless all about the final climb, much longer but much less steep, very constant. The only time it featured in the race - in 2019 - it finished in a group sprint, it can happen again unless there are furious attacks in order to flip around the GC.
Sprint number 3.
Sprint number 4.
Weather for the Week
Great weather, good sun and no rain which is one of the reasons why many riders like coming over to the UAE. However in some days the wind will be very strong and you know how it works over in this part of the world, exposed roads are a constant (and no audience to block it) so echelons are a very possible scenario.
GC Contenders
The startlist is full of stars, it's a massive bunch looking forward to opening up the WorldTour calendar. Home team has home advantage? It's possible, last year saw a battle for the overall and one of the riders were Tadej Pogacar who should be coming in with ambitions of taking the title as the sponsor will be asking for big results, Pogacar is perhaps the man to beat but in such a large competition it really isn't fair to talk that way, he is however coming in with strong support in new addition Rafal Majka and also with Jan Polanc, Davide Formolo and Mikkel Bjerg to support. His main competition was Adam Yates who took the overall last year, Yates will be coming back now in the colours of an incredibly strong Ineos squad that includes not only the Brit, but also Daniel Martinez and Ivan Sosa who will love the climbing present in the race, aswell as Filippo Ganna who can be a factor in the GC having an initial time-trial and a very suited climb in Jebel Jais.
Last year they were aswell with Alexey Lutsenko, usually the Kazakh rides really well in the Middle East and I would expect a great performance however he hasn't looked his brightest for a while and Provence certainly didn't show the form he was targeting. Alongside him in Provence were some more riders that come over aswell like the Bahrain squad coming in with Wout Poels in to surely lead the team, having however really strong backups in Jack Haig who's shown to be in form but also Damiano Caruso who's starting out his season here. Also Patrick Konrad is coming over and he's coming in to co-lead Bora alongside Emanuel Buchmann.
Then there's still a big list of contenders, plenty of them. Alejandro Valverde isn't at the same level that he's been in the past but he has a lot of experience and wins over here and he's used to starting off the season strong and I'm interested seeing how Gregor Muhlberger does in his new team, Sepp Kuss who has a leadership role in Jumbo and, although it's not the most suited race for him, he'll surely try to take as much as possible from this opportunity, Giro revelation João Almeida who's coming in as one of the most reliable riders for the overall having a really strong time-trial and perfect abilities to go over Jebel Jais, there's EF coming in with Sergio Higuita, Qhubeka having Domenico Pozzovivo, Trek having Vincenzo Nibali who looked in Bessèges to be sharper than usual at this time of year and can definitely surprise, Harm Vanhoucke won't have much support but will be Lotto Soudal's leader for the GC and finally... Chris Froome is back! No comment on how he can do, but I will be hoping for a nice comeback.
The Sprinters
But although the climber's list is huge the sprinters are coming in just as heavy and with good reason! 4 pure sprinter stages with no climbs, suited even for those who sweat on sight of a hilltop. And reasonably some of the best in the world are here with Caleb Ewan and Sam Bennett headlining, Ewan is coming in with all of his leadout and although the finishes may be chaotic he definitely will have opportunities to start of his tally, as for Sam Bennett he is having a team that's also focused on Almeida's GC ambitions, but with Michael Morkov and Shane Archbold he will have good power to be there in pole-position.
After them naturally the list is just as big, you've got Fernando Gaviria leading the home team having Max Richeze alongside him, Phil Bauhaus leading Bahrain fresh off a strong win in the final stage of Tour de la Provence, Pascal Ackermann still looking to get a win this season having Schwarzmann and Laas to help him out in the final kilometer, you've got Cees Bol coming in with a massive leadout including Alberto Dainese who will be interesting to see in such a role, there's Giacomo Nizzolo coming in from a win in Almeria, Alpecin-Fenix coming with Jasper Philipsen likely as the sprinter of option but also the big presence of Mathieu van der Poel will be very important, he's definitely a big favourite if there are stages badly affected by the wind, Trek bring in Matteo Moschetti, BikeExchange coming in with the duo of Kaden Groves and Luka Mezgec, Israel having André Greipel still looking for a comeback win late in his career, he'll love the pan-flat stages, Elia Viviani coming in shortly after recovering from a heart problem and finally David Dekker should be Jumbo Visma's option despite having his first appearance in the jersey here.
Prediction Time
⭐ Ganna, Lutsenko, Haig, Konrad, Buchmann, Valverde, Kuss, Nibali, Higuita
He has taken a win in Jebel Hafeet last year he knows exactly how to do it, it's a climb that's suited to him very well, he's got a good TT and pressure to win from the sponsor surely, alongside a strong team behind him!
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