The organisers of the UAE Tour announced that their seven-day race will return for its second edition to the WorldTour in 2020. The race is scheduled to begin on February 23 in Dubai and conclude on February 29 in Abu Dhabi.
"The UAE Tour is the only UCI WorldTour race in the Middle East and demonstrates perfectly how together we can host an elite sporting event and with it showcase our region to the world. It was an amazing accomplishment to be a part of the team staging the first UAE Tour and we know that for the second edition we have made developments to make it even more exciting," H.E. Saeed Mohammed Hareb, Dubai Sports Council Secretary General, said in a press release.
The UAE Tour race organisers and the Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah Sports Councils, along with Giro d'Italia organisers RCS Sport, presented the dates of the 2020 UAE Tour in an official presentation on Monday.
RCS Sport provided limited details of the 2020 UAE Tour; host cities and stage routes will be announced at a later date. However, the organisers stated that next year's race will visit seven Emirates: Dubai, Fujairah, Ajman, Ras-Al-Khaimah, Umm-Al-Quwain, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. The route will also present opportunities for sprinters, time triallists and climbers, according to the press release.
The first edition of the UAE Tour was held in 2019 after the merging of the Abu Dhabi Tour and the Dubai Tour. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) won the overall title ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ).
"The reception for the first edition of the UAE Tour was highly positive, from riders and teams, from the viewers, the sponsors and from broadcasters worldwide," said RCS Sport Cycling Director Mauro Vegni.
"So we are delighted to share with you what we have been working on together since the end of last year's race in preparation for 2020, with our new start and finish locations. I would like to thank our partners, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah Sports Council for their confidence," he said.
