UAE Team Emirates possess such strength in depth nowadays that even without Tadej Pogacar for this year's UAE Tour, the home team are regarded as runaway favourites for the general classification title.
Pogacar, the world's best road cyclist and two-time UAE Tour winner, is preparing for a Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double – not to mention the Paris Olympics – so his schedule is tailored specifically around his Grand Tour ambitions.
That, however, has not left UAE Team Emirates short of options. Far from it, in fact. Team leader Adam Yates is widely considered the man to beat, while teammates Brandon McNulty and Jay Vine are respectively billed second and third among the pre-race favourites.
There are, of course, seven days of competitive racing against a high-quality field before the team can entertain thoughts of triumph. But there is a very real possibility that UAE Team Emirates could lock out the GC podium – and in their home race, too.
Such expectations are in contrast to the team's earlier days in the first edition of the UAE Tour in 2019. Back then, and having only been formed two years earlier, the highest they placed was seventh in the GC. In the five years since, UAE Team Emirates have evolved into a force, becoming the highest-ranked team on the UCI World Tour. Success is no longer hoped for but assumed.
"It’s the home race so a little bit of pressure, a little bit of stress, but it’s not something we’re not used to," Yates told The National. "Hopefully we can work well as a team, stay out of trouble, and try not to make any mistakes. It’s going to be a good race."
Teammate Vegard Stake Laengen agreed that the stakes are higher for UAE Team Emirates than the rest of their rivals in the peloton.
"We feel the pressure quite a lot because it’s the home race and all our sponsors are from here," the Norwegian, 35, told The National. "We always joke that it’s a mini Tour de France for us!"
Yates is happy to embrace that pressure. The 31-year-old British rider prepared for the UAE Tour with a victory in the Tour of Oman on his season debut, and returns to the Emirates as one of the tour's most successful riders; Yates has competed four times, winning in 2020, finishing second twice to Pogacar, and third once.
That experience of what it takes to win here, combined with his career-best form, is why he is backed as the man to be wearing the GC's red jersey by the end of the seventh and final stage. Crucially, it is Yates' prowess on Jebel Hafeet that sets him apart. Of the five stages to finish on the mountain, Yates has won twice, finished second twice, and third once.
UAE Tour 2024 route and road closures
"It's been good every time I’ve been here but to be honest the race doesn’t suit me down to the ground," said Yates, who finished third in last year's Tour de France. "I have the last climb on Jebel Hafeet which suits me quite well but in terms of the actual race, there’s a lot of flat stages and dangerous stages with the crosswind.
"And in the TT (time trial) for sure I’m going to lose some time to the other GC guys. I wouldn’t say it’s the perfect race for me but it’s a race that’s worked well for me in the past, so hopefully, everything falls into place."
Indeed, the second stage individual time trial on Hudayriyat Island is where Yates will hope teammates McNulty, Vine, and Mikkel Bjerg can lead the collective effort. McNulty arrived in the UAE after claiming the biggest stage-race win of his career at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, while Vine won the Australian National Time Trial title in 2023 and Bjerg is a time trial specialist.
"Hopefully, we can work well as a team, it’s obviously not just me," Yates said. "We’ve got Brandon who came out of Valencia really well and got a win there and the TT suits him really well. Then there’s Jay Vine. He hasn’t been 100 per cent, he’s had a small injury so we’re not exactly sure how he’s going to be but when he’s at his best he can perform at a super high level."
While the GC title will ultimately be decided on the two mountain stages and in the time trial, UAE Team Emirates will also aim to be competitive in the four sprint stages.
That responsibility falls on Colombian Sebastian Molano and his trusted lead-out man Ivo Oliveira. Twice a Grand Tour stage winner and once at the UAE Tour last year, Molano has the pedigree to mix it with the best sprinters in the world, many of whom are in the UAE.
The team is therefore well-stocked to tackle all challenges presented by the 2024 UAE Tour and are in a strong position to live up to all the pre-race hype.
"We have a really competitive team," Laengen said. "We expect to fight for stage victories every day."
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20NOTHING%20PHONE%20(2A)
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The five new places of worship
Church of South Indian Parish
St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch
St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch
St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais
Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais
If you go
The flights Etihad (www.etihad.com) and Spice Jet (www.spicejet.com) fly direct from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Pune respectively from Dh1,000 return including taxes. Pune airport is 90 minutes away by road.
The hotels A stay at Atmantan Wellness Resort (www.atmantan.com) costs from Rs24,000 (Dh1,235) per night, including taxes, consultations, meals and a treatment package.
How to help
Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
2252 - Dh50
6025 - Dh20
6027 - Dh100
6026 - Dh200
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Major honours
ARSENAL
BARCELONA
- La Liga - 2013
- Copa del Rey - 2012
- Fifa Club World Cup - 2011
CHELSEA
- Premier League - 2015, 2017
- FA Cup - 2018
- League Cup - 2015
SPAIN
- World Cup - 2010
- European Championship - 2008, 2012
'Young girls thinking of big ideas'
Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.
“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”
In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.
“It’s not only about starting up a business, it’s all the meta skills that goes with it -- building self confidence, communication,” said Ms Elhaj. “It’s a way to coach them and to harness ideas and to allow them to be creative. They are really hungry to do this and be heard. They are so happy to be actually doing something, to be engaged in creating something new, not only sitting and listening and getting new information and new knowledge. Now they are applying that knowledge.”
Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.
“Sometimes we find the struggle of finding halal food, so we just eat fish and cheese, so it’s hard for us to spend 20 days with fish and cheese,” said Afra. “So we made this tower so every person who comes – from Africa, from America – they will find the right food to eat.”
rpennington@thenational.ae
Scorecard:
England 458 & 119/1 (51.0 ov)
South Africa 361
England lead by 216 runs with 9 wickets remaining
The results of the first round are as follows:
Qais Saied (Independent): 18.4 per cent
Nabil Karoui (Qalb Tounes): 15.58 per cent
Abdelfattah Mourou (Ennahdha party): 12.88 per cent
Abdelkarim Zbidi (two-time defence minister backed by Nidaa Tounes party): 10.7 per cent
Youssef Chahed (former prime minister, leader of Long Live Tunisia): 7.3 per cent
Company%20profile
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Ibrahim's play list
Completed an electrical diploma at the Adnoc Technical Institute
Works as a public relations officer with Adnoc
Apart from the piano, he plays the accordion, oud and guitar
His favourite composer is Johann Sebastian Bach
Also enjoys listening to Mozart
Likes all genres of music including Arabic music and jazz
Enjoys rock groups Scorpions and Metallica
Other musicians he likes are Syrian-American pianist Malek Jandali and Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou Khalil
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
Company%C2%A0profile
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ZAYED SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
Landfill in numbers
• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away
• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
