There are previews of races, and who you might want to watch and see win out there, I have no wish to tread on anyone’s toes with this. That is not the intention, it is simply my thoughts as to what I would like to see happen, of course, it is unlikely to pan out like this, but there is always hope. More of this later. After all, we have all watched a breakaway and willed them to stay away to the finish line, such as with Brandon McNulty at the recent Tour of Dubai.
Getting there
Although this is the third race in the Arabian Peninsular in as many weeks, many of the riders have not been involved in all three races. Those who took part in Dubai, but not Oman, having returned to their usual base or a training block in the intervening period. Some riders are based in Girona in Spain, and flew back. There are also several riders who train in Catalonia and are also going to the race. I so wish I was a fly on the flight from Barcelona to Abu Dhabi, possibly via Dubai, as team support have been there for the 3 weeks. That would happily fill my smartphone with thousands of selfies and pictures of riders.
Hotel
With the race being 5 stages, all in the emirate, transfers between stages to a new hotel each day are not necessary. The opportunity exists to remain in the same hotel, in familiar surroundings, for the entire race. This must be a real boon for the riders and teams something that rarely happens later on in the season. The other races in Middle East are the same in this respect, as is the Tour Down Under. A chance to get to talk with other riders from other teams without the pressure of being in a race over an extended period.
Race
So, to the race itself, there are 5 stages, first 3 have flat profiles, which should end in sprints. The fourth stage is an ITT and the stage 5 concludes on Jebel Mountain; not a dam as the other two races are here, but a proper mountain. The classifications in the race that are available are GC, Points, Youth and Teams. The stages are 189,154,133,11 and 199km in length during the week.
Those who know me will already know who I will be cheering on for all five stages, it wont come as a surprise to them that I will be shouting loudly for Sam Brand of Team Novo Nordisk and Toms Skujiņš from Trek. Sam as today is the first official pro race he has undertaken after being a stagiaire last year; and Toms because its Toms! I had no idea earlier this year that these two would be racing against each other so early in the season. I’m sort of really pleased but also thinking who do I want to win? As long as both enjoy the race, get through safely and have benefitted from the experience I will be happy. I think it will be a real learning curve for Sam.
Ideally for me would be to see Toms and Sam in the break every day(apart from Thursday, S2) as I have an appointment and may not be able to watch. My voicebox will be working overtime, I will be totally hoarse and might even get somewhere close to as big a smile as Toms always has, but probably not! Most people who play #FantasyFives and have looked at the startlist, will know what at least 60% of my team will be for the race, and with a bit of thought, could probably calculate the whole team!
On a slightly different slant, head over to Sams Twitter page and enter his competition to get your names designed and printed on #SamsShoes for the Commonwealth Games!
https://twitter.com/SamNBrand/status/961877992195665920
I hope you have enjoyed this totally “tongue in cheek” look at the race and enjoy watching it as it unfolds, I last thing:
Good luck both!
White Bridge 