Cycling News

First-ever UCI Women’s World Tour race in the Middle East announced

First-ever UCI Women’s World Tour race in the Middle East announced

The UAE Tour is set to make cycling history in February, as 20 teams of the world’s top female cyclists will head to the Middle East for the first ever Women’s WorldTour race in the region. The route for the women’s tour will see riders take on the UAE’s unique and varied terrain as well as pass significant landmarks. The full routes will be announced in January 2023.

Organized by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and taking place from Feb. 9-12, the UCI Women’s WorldTour race will take place just before the fifth edition of the men’s WorldTour race, the UAE Tour, which takes place at the end of February.

Over the past few years, the UAE has become a hub for cycling, having successfully hosted many professional races in the form of the Dubai Tour, Abu Dhabi Tour and UAE Tour. The UAE WorldTour team is one of the strongest in the peloton, and boasts two Tour de France victories courtesy of Tadej Pogačar. There is also a women’s team, UAE Team ADQ, which became a WorldTour squad in 2020.

“We are excited to add another world class cycling event to the WorldTour calendar with the UAE Tour UCI Women’s WorldTour race,” H.E. Aref Al Awani, general secretary of Abu Dhabi Sports Council said. “As a favourite in the UCI cycling calendar, the UAE Tour has been a great opportunity to showcase our country’s diverse territories and historic sites to the world, and with the new UCI Women’s WorldTour, we represent both an exciting milestone for the country’s development in cycling, and showcase the strides we have taken to promote professional women’s cycling in the region.”

The organizers also hope that following the inaugural race, the length of the UAE Tour can be expanded in the future.

“Seeing the Women’s UAE Tour coming to reality is something we are very proud of. With the Abu Dhabi Sports Council we worked with the objective of bringing further cycling excitement to the region and in doing so, it is therefore natural to offer the same playing field to women with a women’s version of the UAE Tour at the same level as the men’s race,” Fabrizio D’Amico, chief operating officer RCS Sports and Eents and UAE Tour Director said.

Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…