DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 2017 – It seems the Emirates are determined to working hard in attracting some of the world’s top cycling events such as Giro d’Italia among others.
Dubai Tour organizers have expressed, soon after unveiling the fifth edition of the race on Monday in the Arab state, their dream to attract Grand Tours such as Giro d’Italia.
Currently speaking, they are working on organizing and making sure everything goes as planned for the 2018 event which will take place between February 6 and 10.
“This is more than a race for us, there are two sides: competition and tourism,” Saeed Hareb, head of the Dubai Sports Council, said.
“We keep finding new places to visit. We went to the Hatta Dam, showed it with beautiful helicopter shots, and now everyone knows about it.”
Currently, among riders who enjoy the flat terrain of the state are sprinters like Katusha-Alpecin’s rider, Marcel Kittel and Dimension Data’s man, Mark Cavendish as a great way to prepare themselves for the major European events such races as Paris-Nice among others.
“Everyone has issues but we want to keep going,” Hareb admitted. “We are doing what the successful races like the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France have done. Beaming live footage into the households, we want the UAE and images of its locations known.
“We’re supporting Expo 2020 with the route, but also making the locals happy. We take it to the big worker camps so that they can come out and enjoy what we are enjoying. And we want to share this happiness.”
Bidding to host a Grand Tour start
The organizers believe that, after the success of Jerusalem’s bid for hosting the 2018 Giro d’Italia start, they also have the potential to host the start of a grand tour.
Hareb has already confirmed that they have spoken with the famous Giro organizer, RCS Sport, on this possibility.
“The race has helped the industry, now we have that bike path and it continues to expand. Shops are opening, like the Cycle Hub. Eventually, we want all the neighborhoods connected with paths, too,” Hareb added.
“We want both, to support the health of our community and to have a healthy competition. We want that it supports young developing racers.
“Five years seem like a lot, but that Tour has been going on for 100 years. We have a long way to go, but we also have plenty to build on.”
