This week’s Dubai Tour (February 4-7) is drawing big names, including Vincenzo Nibali, reigning Tour de France champion; Mark Cavendish, winner of 43 Grand Tour stages; Alejandro Valverde, winner of the 2014 UCI WorldTour ranking; Tony Martin, three times UCI Time Trial World Champion; Joaquim Rodríguez, two times winner of Il Lombardia; Philippe Gilbert, former UCI Road World Champion and John Degenkolb, 10-time winner of Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España stages.
The four road stages, totalling 663 kilometres, will kick-off Wednesday with a flat stage concluding with four laps of an 8.2km circuit and finish at the Union House Flag.
Stage two is a similar fare, with a finish on the iconic palm island for what is likely to be another bunch sprint.
The big showdown will take place on stage three when Nibali, Valverde, Rodriguez and Gilbert will go wheel-to-wheel. The organisers consider it a ‘medium mountain stage’, the riders are sent back and forth in the rugged Hajar Mountains, resulting in two climbs at 10% and one climb at 7%, while the finale is a short ascent with a steepest section of 17%. The GC riders will need to rid themselves of the sprinters on the final climb as time bonuses could otherwise come into play to settle the overall classification.
A city pan-flat stage four concludes the race with 123 kilometers, the shortest in the race, where the fast men will enjoy one final chance to test their sprinting legs.
Who could shine at the 2015 Dubai Tour?
Here’s our list of the big names to look out for.
Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep)
Ben Swift (Team Sky)
Lars Boom (Astana)
Philippe Gilbert (BMC)
John Degenkolb (Giant-ASPECIN)
Michael Valgren Andersen (Tinkoff-Saxo)
WIN THE GC LEADER’S JERSEY
We are so excited about the 2015 Dubai Tour that we have decided to give away one leader’s jersey, designed by the iconic British fashion designer and passionate cycling enthusiast Sir Paul Smith. Entering is easy and open to all Castelli newsletter subscribers and Facebook fans. The usual Castelli rules apply (see below), only one entry is allowed per person, and you enter by commenting below who you think will win the 2015 Dubai Tour.
CONTEST RULES:
1. Contest is open to all Castelli Newsletter subscribers and Facebook fans.
3. The prize drawing is open to residents of the European Union and North America.
4. This contest begins at 12:00 p.m. Central European Time (CET) on February 02, 2015, and ends at 12:00 p.m. (CET) on February 6, 2015.
5. The Castelli random-number generator will pick the lucky winners.
The 16 teams and their favorites.
AG2R LA MONDIALE (FRA) – Bakelandts, Van Summeren
ASTANA PRO TEAM (KAZ) – Nibali, Boom
BARDIANI CSF (ITA) – Battaglin, Pirazzi
BMC RACING TEAM (USA) – Gilbert, Zabel
CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE (POL) – Bole, Szmyd
ETIXX–QUICK STEP (BEL) – Cavendish, Martin
LAMPRE–MERIDA (ITA) – Pozzato, Xu
MOVISTAR TEAM (ESP) – Valverde, Malori
SKYDIVE DUBAI PRO CYCLING TEAM (UAE) – Mancebo, Gusev
TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN (GER) – Degenkolb, Mezgec
TEAM KATUSHA (RUS) – Rodriguez, Porsev
TEAM NOVO NORDISK (USA) – Megias, Verschoor
TEAM SKY (GBR) – Thomas, Swift
TINKOFF-SAXO (RUS) – Valgren, Kiserlovski
UAE NATIONAL SELECTION – Badr Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed Alhammadi, Mohammed Yousef Ahmed Abdulla
UNITEDHEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM (USA) – Brajkovic and Canola
For more information: dubaitour.com
Related articles: 2015 Dubai Tour leader’s jersey unveiled
100 Comments
The win the 2015 Dubai Tour will be Vincenso Nibali
I think Alejandro Valverde will win
Valverde is going to win.
I think John Degenkolb (Giant-ASPECIN) will win
I think it will be Vincenzo Nibali.
I think Tony Martin will win the 2015 Dubai tour
Stephen Cummings
Swift
Valverde
I think Alejandro Valverde will win the 2015 Dubai Tour
Nibali!
Nibali
Nibali
John Dagenkolb will win.
Alejandro Valverde,
Nibali will win :)
Valverde will win
Lars Boom (Astana) will win!!!
Nibali will stand tall.
I believe Philippe Gilbert will win the 2015 Dubai Tour.
Nibali
Lars doom
I’ll go with Gilbert.
Nibali
Degenkolb!
Cavendish
Philippe Gilbert
I think it will be Vincenzo Nibali.
Ben Swift’s performance seems all right!
Vincenzo Nibali
Nibali to win
Degenkolb
Nibali will win
I see Lars Boom winning this tour!
Geraint Thomas – Wales all the way
John Degenkolb
Ben Swift
Philippe Gilbert
Ben Swift
Cavendish
Lars Boom will be the winner
Valverde. But don’t rule out Paco Mancebo!
This is awesome.
Valverde will win
I think Thomas from Team Sky will be winning this one.
I think Alejandro Valverde will win
The winner is:
Philippe Gilbert (BMC)
The winner of the 2015 Dubai Tour will be Vincenso Nibali
Philippe Gilbert
The 2015 tour of dubai will vincenso nibali
Gilbert. Short punchy climb suits his racing, on form he can beat any field as seen at the 2012 Worlds & the Ardennes classics.
Gilbert for me
Mezgec Degenkolb
Nibali will win the tour
Valverde will win The Tour of Dubai 2015
John Degenkolb to sneak it.
I am voting for Ben Swift
Geraint Thomas to win!!
Swift will take it!
Valverde
P. Gilbert will win…
Valverde
Philippe Gilbert
Valverde to win.
Swift to win !
I think Lars Boom will win. BOOM!!
The winner will be Vincenso Nibali.
I’ll be patriotic and go with Cavendish
Valverde!
Rodriguez!
My pick is Lars Boom
Philippe GILBERT.
Swift Thomas
My pick is Valverde.
Degenkolb for sure
Juan Jose Lobato
Nibali to win Dubai. Me to win the jersey.
gilbert
John Degenkolb!!
The win will go to cavendish.
I look to see Ben Swift take the win.
I hope for a win by Thomas!
Tony Martin for the overall
Valverde
Philipe gilbert
Phillipe gilbert
Philippe Gilbert win
Valverdr
Mark Cavendish
Elia Viviani will win Tour Dubai 2015.
Good luck every body!!!
The jersey is most beautiful!!!!
Alejandro Valverde for the win.
Given his form at the weekend in Mallorca, it’s going to be Valverde
i think Valverde will win!
I think Tony Martin will be the winner.
The winner will be Mark Cavendish
The Manx Missle, Cavendish!
Nibali will make it!
Got to support Cavendish to win
If your name is Henk Rek then you are probably pretty happy right now! That’s right, you’re the lucky owner of the 2015 Dubai Tour blue GC leader jersey and bib-short. Congratulations!
Wow! Very happy! I’m a fan of Castelli AND Paul Smith. Thanks a million!