The 2017 Abu Dhabi Tour was a
road cycling
Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes recreational, racing, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, road cyclists are generally expected to obey the same laws as ...
stage race that took place between 23 and 26 February. It was the third edition of the
Abu Dhabi Tour
The Abu Dhabi Tour was a men's cycling stage race that took place in the United Arab Emirates, held annually between 2015 and 2018. In 2019 The Abu Dhabi Tour merged with the Dubai Tour to become the UAE Tour.
History
When inaugurated, it was p ...
and was the third event of the
2017 UCI World Tour
The 2017 UCI World Tour was a competition that included thirty-seven road cycling events throughout the 2017 men's cycling season. It was the ninth edition of the ranking system launched by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2009. The ...
. It was the first time that the race was included in the UCI World Tour calendar.
The race's mountain-top finish at
Jebel Hafeet
Jabal Hafeet ( ar, جَبَل حَفِيْت, Jabal Ḥafīt, "Mount Hafeet"; variously transcribed Jabal, Jabel or Jebal and Hafit or Hafeet – literally "empty mountain") is a mountain in the region of Tawam, on the border of the United Arab ...
provided the final podium of the race, after
Mark Cavendish
Mark Simon Cavendish (born 21 May 1985) is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . As a track cyclist he specialises in the madison, points race, and scratch race disciplines; as a road racer he is a ...
(),
Marcel Kittel
Marcel Kittel (born 11 May 1988) is a German former racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2011 and 2019 for the , and squads. As a junior, he specialised in time trials, even winning a bronze medal in the World Championships for cycl ...
() and
Caleb Ewan () won the three sprint stages. 2013 world champion
Rui Costa
Rui Manuel César Costa (; born 29 March 1972) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who is the 34th president of sports club S.L. Benfica. He also succeeded Luís Filipe Vieira as president of the club's SAD board of directors.
...
, riding for the newly renamed , broke away with 's
Ilnur Zakarin
Ilnur Azatovich Zakarin (russian: Ильнур Азатович Закарин; born 15 September 1989) is a Russian racing cyclist, who rides for UCI ProTeam .
Career Early career and doping ban
In 2007, as a 17-year-old, he won the juniors tim ...
, with the two staying clear to the end; Costa was able to out-sprint Zakarin, and with the additional bonus seconds for winning the stage, Costa held onto the final victory by four seconds. The podium was completed by rider
Tom Dumoulin
Tom Dumoulin (; born 11 November 1990) is a retired Dutch professional road bicycle racer who last rode for UCI WorldTeam . He has won nine stages across the three Grand Tours, five medals in three different World Championships and two Olympic s ...
, who tried to close the pair down on the mountain, but fell ten seconds shy on the stage.
With finishes of first, second and third on the sprint stages, Cavendish was a comfortable winner of the points classification. In the other classifications, Kittel's teammate
Julian Alaphilippe
Julian Alaphilippe (born 11 June 1992) is a French professional road cyclist, former cyclo-cross racer and two-fold UCI World Road Champion, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He is the brother of racing cyclist Bryan Alaphilippe.
Career E ...
was the winner of the young rider classification; he gained four places overall on the final day with a three-second time bonus for winning one of the intermediate sprints at the
Yas Marina Circuit
The Yas Marina Circuit (Arabic: حلبة مرسى ياس) is the venue for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke, and is situated on Yas Island, near Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Yas Marina w ...
– moving from ninth to fifth in the process. Another final-day mover was 's
Patrick Konrad
Patrick Konrad (born 13 October 1991) is an Austrian racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam .
Career
Born in Mödling, Konrad finished 4th in the 2014 Tour of Austria for , winning the young rider classification. He joined for t ...
, who took the intermediate sprints classification, winning the two other sprints and finishing second to Alaphilippe in the third. With eight bonus seconds, he moved from 24th to 10th overall. The teams classification was won by Costa's .
Teams
As a new event to the
UCI World Tour
The UCI WorldTour (2009–2010: ''UCI World Ranking'') is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an ann ...
, all
UCI WorldTeam
A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road cycling, the UCI World Tour or UCI ProTour
...
s were invited to the race, but not obligated to compete in the race. As such, sixteen of the eighteen WorldTeams – all excluding and – competed in the race. Four UCI Professional Continental teams competed, completing the 20-team peloton.
Route
The full itinerary of the 2017 Abu Dhabi Tour was released on 24 January 2017.
Stages
Stage 1
;23 February 2017 —
Madinat Zayed
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to Madinat Zayed,
Stage 2
;24 February 2017 —
Al Maryah Island
Al Maryah Island ( ar, جزيرة المارية), formerly known as Sowwah Island, is a natural island located northeast of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It is named for a famous oasis region in Abu Dhabi, Al Mariyah, which ...
to
Abu Dhabi,
Stage 3
;25 February 2017 —
Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium
The Hazza bin Zayed Stadium ( ar, اِسْتَاد هَزَّاع بِن زَايِد, Istād Hazzāʿ Bin Zāyid) is a multi-purpose stadium, located in the City of Al Ain, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is the home stadium of Al ...
,
Al Ain to
Jebel Hafeet
Jabal Hafeet ( ar, جَبَل حَفِيْت, Jabal Ḥafīt, "Mount Hafeet"; variously transcribed Jabal, Jabel or Jebal and Hafit or Hafeet – literally "empty mountain") is a mountain in the region of Tawam, on the border of the United Arab ...
,
Stage 4
;26 February 2017 —
Yas Marina Circuit
The Yas Marina Circuit (Arabic: حلبة مرسى ياس) is the venue for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke, and is situated on Yas Island, near Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Yas Marina w ...
to Yas Marina Circuit,
Classification leadership table
In the 2017 Abu Dhabi Tour, four different jerseys were awarded. For the
general classification
The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulat ...
, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers at intermediate sprints and at the finish of mass-start stages, the leader received a red jersey.
This classification was considered the most important of the 2017 Abu Dhabi Tour, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race.
Additionally, there was a
points classification
The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called ''intermediate sprints''. The points cl ...
, which awarded a green jersey.
In the points classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 10 in a stage. For winning a stage, a rider earned 20 points, with 16 for second, 12 for third, 9 for fourth, 7 for fifth, 5 for sixth with a point fewer per place down to a single point for 10th place. Points towards the classification could also be accrued at intermediate sprint points during each stage; these intermediate sprints also offered bonus seconds towards the general classification. There was also a sprints classification for the points awarded at the aforementioned intermediate sprints, where the leadership of which was marked by a black jersey.
The fourth jersey represented the young rider classification, marked by a white jersey.
This was decided in the same way as the general classification, but only riders born after 1 January 1992 were eligible to be ranked in the classification. There was also a classification for teams, in which the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added together; the leading team at the end of the race was the team with the lowest total time.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Dhabi Tour, 2017
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
2017 UCI World Tour
2017 in Emirati sport
February 2017 sports events in Asia