The 2014 Dubai Tour served up four stages of racing in the super rich emirate, bringing a third ‘desert race’ to professional cycling’s calendar.
A parcours comprised of an opening stage time trial followed by three flat finishes delivered more than might have been expected from the inaugural race, and it’s likely that organisers, RCS Sport, the Italian media giant whose cycling portfolio includes the Giro d’Italia, will be back for more next year.
BMC Racing’s Taylor Phinney can expect to be first on the list of invited riders after claiming the first ‘circle of stars’ trophy by sealing overall victory with a largely untroubled ride that appeared to require the full deployment of his considerable talents only on the opening stage.
And with Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) registering a 3-0 victory over Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quickstep), both men might relish a return fixture: Kittel to return to a happy hunting ground, and the Manx Missile to embark on a search for revenge.
The Dubai Tour’s organisers today issued a series of key statistics from the inaugural race, including an acknowledgement of the 102 countries on five continents to which the race was broadcast. We’ll add five observations to the numerical pot. Follow this link to the RCUK Forum to add some more of your own.
