We are so back. Pro racing is happening across Europe—Spain, France—and now the WorldTour heads down to the UAE.
The UAE Tour 2026 begins with a 144-km stage from Madinat Zayed to Liwa Palace. On paper, it looks like a clear opportunity for the sprinters, but the exposed desert roads of Abu Dhabi and a forecast northwesterly wind could quickly turn the day into a nervous battle for position.
The route heads across broad, open highways before passing the first intermediate sprint in Liwa. From there, the peloton enters more exposed terrain near the dunes, where crosswinds often play a decisive role. While the profile features rolling sections rather than pure flatlands, the climbs are unlikely to seriously trouble the fast men. The finale, however, rises at around five percent, favouring powerful sprinters who can handle an uphill drag.
All eyes will be on Jonathan Milan, who dominated similar finishes last season. Without Tim Merlier in the line-up, Milan starts as the standout favourite. Rivals such as Matteo Malucelli and Sebastián Molano will hope either the wind—or their speed—can deny him an early victory.
Meanwhile, Lidl-Trek’s Derek Gee-West (with his updated kit, thankfully) is slated to race after Giulio Ciccone fell ill. He was going to begin his race season a little later, but got bumped up. It’s been a while since he’s pinned on a number—the last time was the very nationals that he won. Then, well, you know, all that stuff with his old team. It meant skipping the rest of his season: the Tour de Pologne, La Vuelta a España, the Grand Prixs, the worlds—anyway. According to some other news reports, it sounds like he is doing his best to move on from that and look forward, not backward.
But there are plenty of other Canadians racing there. Former national champ Pier-André Côté, on the NSN Cycling Team, formerly known as Israel-Premier Tech, will be there. So too will fast man Riley Pickrell, who left IPT for George Hincapie’s Modern Adventure Pro Cycling. Watch for the Victoria sprinter on some of the flat stages. He could sneak in a pretty great result.
Workhorse Nickolas Zukowsky will be there for Pinarello Q36.5. There’s no Tom Pidcock there, so will this super-strong rider be given any chances if he finds himself in a break?
Racing begins Monday, and if you have a sub to FloBikes.com, you can watch it at 5:50 a.m. EST. But don’t fret, we will have a…
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