The UAE Cycling Federation and Dubai Sports Council on Monday announced the launch of a new international cycling event for women.
The Dubai Women’s Tour will be held from February 17-20 next year, in the week before 2020 UAE Tour.
The only Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) women’s cycling event in the Middle East, Dubai Women’s Tour will see 14 top international teams, including Team UAE, competing for honours across four stages, a statement said.
The Tour will open with the 99km Nshama Stage, which will start from Dubai Festival City and finish at Town Square Dubai. On Day 2, the teams will again start from Festival City and finish at The Springs-Emaar after covering 91km in the General Authority for Sports Stage.
The teams will then move to Hatta for Day 3 for the 90km Dubai Health Authority Stage, which will start at Wadi Hatta Park and finish at Hatta Dam following a steep climb. The final stage – the 112km Dubai Festival City Stage – will start and finish at Festival City after taking the cyclists past some of Dubai’s most iconic landmarks.
Sara Al Sayegh, director of Communications and Marketing Department at Dubai Sports Council, said: “Inspired by our wise leadership’s call to empower women in all spheres of life, empowering women in sports has become one of Dubai Sports Council’s strategic objectives… We want to encourage our women to take up sports and create opportunities for them to compete and achieve their sporting aspirations.
“This new Dubai Women’s Tour is part of that initiative, especially since the sport of cycling is growing in popularity among Emirati ladies, thanks to the excellent facilities, including dedicated tracks, available across Dubai.
“The huge success of the Dubai Tour and UAE Tour have also helped push cycling to the top of the popularity charts, and now, together with UAE Cycling Federation, we are pleased to announce the launch of another UCI event in the country.
“The Dubai Women’s Tour marks a new dawn for women’s sports in the UAE… it is the start of a new era in the empowerment of women in sports.”
There will be 14 teams taking part in the inaugural Dubai Women’s Tour, including Team UAE and UAE national champion Safia Al Sayegh who will be lining up for them along with other young Emirati talent, challenging the world’s best for the overall leader’s jersey (yellow), the best sprinter jersey (green), the best climber jersey (polka dot) and the young leader jersey (white).
Other teams taking part are Agolico Pro Cycling Team, Russia-based Cogeas Mettler Cycling Team, Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport of Belgium, Hungary’s Fehervar Cycling Team, Hitec-Products-ORG of Great Britain, the Kazakhstan National Team and the Under-23 Kazakhstan National Team, Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck-Immo Losch, Ciclotel of Belgium, France’s Team Feminin, Team Vaiano-Aromitalia-Basso Bikes, Germany’s Wheel Divas Cycling Team and the Uzbekistan Women’s Team.
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