Dubai Tour route revealed for 2016

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The peloton races against the Dubai skyline.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)

The 2016 edition of the Dubai Tour will return to the Hatta Dam, the 17 per cent uphill sprint where John Degenkolb took a memorable victory this year, as the race looks to consolidate on what it sees as a winning formula in terms of route planning.

The race, one in a series of early-season outings in the Middle East, celebrated its inaugural edition in 2014, won by Taylor Phinney, but organisers scrapped the time trial and increased the total distance across the four stages by 60 per cent this year. What resulted was a dramatic finale at Hatta Dam and a general classification contest that hung in the balance until the final day, whereupon Mark Cavendish came out on top thanks to the bonus seconds for sprint victories.

Organisers were keen to replicate that once again for the 2016 edition, which was unveiled at the Jumeirah Mina A’Salam on Sunday, and which will run from February 3-6. The overall distance will be almost identical to this year – 671 kilometres up from 663 – and Hatta Dam will again be the finish on day three, with the other stages set to culminate in more traditional bunch gallops. The bonus seconds system (10 for the stage winner, six for second place, four for third place) also remains unchanged.

The opening stage may well be the most interesting in terms of scenery, and it also throws up some varied terrain, too. Visiting four different Emirates and passing coastal mosques and fortresses, it will pass through the Silicon Oasis before cutting through the desert dunes that lead to the Hajar Mountains – the highest mountain range in the eastern Arabian peninsular. However, the hills shouldn’t be severe or long enough to derail the sprinters, who will have two laps of a 6.6km finishing circuit in Fujairah before going for the line.

Stage 3 is where the time differences can be made and will have a significant bearing on the overall standings. The route heads out into the desert, where the terrain becomes increasingly challenging in the final 50km, with two climbs and descents. The sting in the tail is of course the final climb up to Hatta Dam, a 200-metre but fiercely steep (up to 17 per cent) drag to the line – who can forget John Degenkolb’s perfectly executed but excruciatingly exerting effort this year?

The jerseys for the 2016 edition of the Tour of Dubai are the same as in 2015, with dark blue for the overall leader, red for the points classification, white for best young rider, and the green, red and black of the UAE flag for the intermediate sprint classification. This year Mark Cavendish won both the blue and red jerseys, while Michael Valgren took the white jersey and Alessandro Bazzana the UAE flag jersey.

Patrick is a freelance sports writer and editor. He’s an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (French and Spanish). Patrick worked full-time at Cyclingnews for eight years between 2015 and 2023, latterly as Deputy Editor.