So far, the Jebel Hafeet has been part of every stage of the tour, which was organised for the first time in 2019. Jebel Jais has only been missing once. Both mountains will be on the programme again in 2024. The mountain finishes will be organised as before: The Jais will sort the classification for the first time on stage 3, while the Hafeet will decide the overall winner on the 7th and final stage.
Instead of a team time trial like last year, this time the stage programme includes an individual battle against the clock. The second World Tour race of the year is completed by four flat stages.
UAE Tour 2024 favourites: This time without Pogacar and Evenepoel
UAE Team Emirates will once again be the centre of attention in his home tour. After Evenepoel was victorious last year, the sponsoring sheikhs are likely to be happy to see their team at the top again. Nevertheless, Tadej Pogacar, who won in 2021 and 2022, could not be persuaded to take part - bigger goals stand in the way. Instead, Adam Yates, third last year and already a winner in 2020, but then still for Mitchelton-Scott, will be entrusted with this task.
Brandon McNulty will also be at the start for UAE, as will Jay Vine. Other contenders for the overall classification include Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal - Quick Step), Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious).
The sprinters will be led by Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike), Tim Merlier (Soudal - Quick Step), Fabio Jakobsen (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Mark Cavendish. German sprint aces Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) and Pascal Ackermann, who is making his debut for Israel-Premier Tech, are also likely to have a say in the sprint decisions.
The German team Bora-Hansgrohe also has a top sprinter at the start with Sam Welsford, three-time stage winner at the Tour Down Under. Emanuel Buchmann and Ben Zwiehoff (eighth in 2023) could have a say in the overall standings.
UAE Tour 2024 - the route at a glance
In total, the UAE Tour 2024 covers 985.1 kilometres and is therefore similar in length to previous years. However, the kilometres through the desert have been reduced slightly, with the majority of the race being completed in urban regions and near the coast.
Stage 1 | Monday, 19 February 2024 | Al Dhafra Walk Madinat Zayed - Liwa Palace | 141 kilometres
Madinat Zayed in the hinterland of the United Emirates is the starting point of the UAE Tour 2024. On day 1, the desert is boarded directly, which can be quite a spectacle in strong winds. For the first 45 kilometres, the route runs almost straight ahead from north to south as far as the Liwa oasis. Then the course becomes more winding - and above all more hilly.
We head into the dunes. The sandy hills are steep, with double-digit percentages awaiting the field. Especially at the 120 metre high Moreeb dune, which is famous for various motorsport events. But there is also a circular cycle route there. The 18-kilometre circuit with ups and downs is cycled twice before returning to Liwa. There, the finish is on a straight that climbs up to three per cent.
Stage 2 | Tuesday, 20 February 2024 | Al Hudayriyat Island - Al Hudayriyat Island | 12.1 kilometres (individual time trial)
The virtually undeveloped island of Al Hudayriyat off the capital of the Emirates, Abu Dhabi, is the venue for the 12.1 kilometre individual time trial. Two 180-degree turns are the only difficult points on the completely flat course, which otherwise only has a few long bends. It is a high-speed course. The individual time trial of the 2021 Tour was already held there. It was just a little longer and saw Filippo Ganna as the winner. At the first edition in 2019, the team time trial was held here with Jumbo-Visma as the winner.
Stage 3 | Wednesday, 21 February 2024 | Al Marjan Island - Jebel Jais | 176 kilometres
The third stage of the UAE Tour begins on the artificial coral-shaped island of Al Marjan to the north of Dubai. First through a built-up area, then a stretch through the desert to the first mountain arrival at Jebel Jais. Up to the second intermediate sprint after 140 kilometres, not much happens in terms of altitude. From 4 metres above sea level, the climb goes up to 80.
But then something happens, because the arrival is at 1491 metres. The rest of the day is almost exclusively uphill, with the Jebel Jais itself being tackled for the last 20 kilometres. However, the mountain is pleasant to ride, with a gradient of around five per cent almost all the way. It only gets a little steeper in the last two kilometres, but never reaches double figures. Despite the length of the climb, large time gaps between the favourites are rather unlikely.
Stage 4 | Thursday, 22 February 2024 | Dubai Police Officer's Club - Dubai Harbour | 168 kilometres
Stage 4 is a city tour of Dubai in the broadest sense, passing all the tourist attractions that the city has to offer. From a sporting point of view, the day offers no highlights in terms of distance. That's why everything will come down to a bunch sprint in the harbour of Dubai within sight of the Palm Island.
+++ UPDATE +++ Due to a diversion, stage 4 has been shortened by seven kilometres to just 168 kilometres.
Stage 5 | Friday, 23 February 2024 | Al Aqah - Umm al Quwain | 182 kilometres
The profile of the 5th stage is similar, for which the entourage returns to the north of the country. From the west coast near Umm Al Quwain, the day leads with a few desert kilometres and a small diversions to the east coast to Al Aqah. Apart from a small elevation in the first quarter of the route, it remains exclusively flat here too, so anything other than a bunch sprint would be a surprise.
Stage 6 | Saturday, 24 February 2024 | Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum - Abu Dhabi Breakwater | 138 kilometres
After the city tour through Dubai, the riders can take a close look at Abu Dhabi on stage 6. The stage begins at the city's Louvre, which opened in 2017, and will end at the Breakwater viewpoint - in a mass sprint. The highest point of the route is 7 metres above sea level. No further questions.
7th stage | Sunday, 25 February 2024 | Al Ain Bait Mohammed Bin Khalifa - Jebel Hafeet | 161 kilometres
Things get exciting again on the last day. Stage 7 begins in Al Ain on the border with neighbouring Oman. It leads to Jebel Hafeet, which is not far from the city limits. It takes a closer look to notice the differences in the profile compared to the Jebel Jais stage. The biggest difference is the altitude. Because it only goes up to 1025 metres. And the climb is only half as long.
But much steeper. On average, eight or nine per cent have to be overcome. The peak is eleven, around 3000 metres before the finish. Then there is a short descent before the final ramp. This is where the overall winner of the tour will be decided.
UAE Tour 2024: TV broadcast & live stream
The UAE Tour 2024 will be broadcast in Germany by Eurosport. The sports channel will show all stages live on Free TV on Eurosport 1. There are also discovery+ (via paid subscription) a live stream of all seven stages.
The TV broadcast times on Eurosport 1
- 1st stage - Monday, 19 February: 11:45 - 13:25
- 2nd stage - Tuesday, 20 February: 11:50 - 13:30
- 3rd stage - Wednesday, 21 February: 11:50 - 13:30
- Stage 4 - Thursday, 22 February: 11:50 - 13:30
- Stage 5 - Friday, 23 February: 11:50 - 13:30
- Stage 6 - Saturday, 24 February: 12:30 - 13:30
- 7th stage - Sunday, 25 February: 12:30 - 13:30
UAE Tour 2024: The start list
UAE Team Emirates
- 1 Adam Yates
- 2 Ivo Oliveira
- 3 Mikkel Bjerg
- 4 Vegard Stake lengths
- 5 Brandon McNulty
- 6 Juan Sebastian Molano
- 7 Jay Vine
Alpecin-Deceuninck
- 11 Kaden Groves
- 12 Maurice Ballerstedt
- 13 Silvan Dillier
- 14 Jason Osborne
- 15 Jonas Rickaert
- 16 Henri Uhlig
- 17 Fabio van den Bossche
Astana Qazaqstan Team
- 21 Mark Cavendish
- 22 Michele Gazzoli
- 23 Dmitriy Gruzdev
- 24 Harold Martin Lopez
- 25 Michael Morkov
- 26 Gleb Syritsa
- 27 Harold Tejada
Bahrain-Victorious
- 31 Pello Bilbao
- 32 Nikias Arndt
- 33 Phil Bauhaus
- 34 Rainer Kepplinger
- 35 Johan Price Pejtersen
- 36 Cameron Scott
- 37 Torstein Traeen
Bora-Hansgrohe
- 41 Sam Welsford
- 42 Emanuel Buchmann
- 43 Patrick Gamper
- 44 Filip Maciejuk
- 45 Ryan Mullen
- 46 Danny van Poppel
- 47 Ben Zwiehoff
Cofidis
- 51 Kenny Elissonde
- 52 Stanislaw Aniolkowski
- 53 Ruben Fernandez
- 54 Eddy Fine
- 55 Milan Fretin
- 56 Christophe Noppe
- 57 Hugo Toumire
Team Corratec - Vini Fantini
- 61 Jakub Mareczko
- 62 Alessandro Monaco
- 63 Marco Murgano
- 64 Andrii Ponomar
- 65 Mark Stewart
- 66 Attilio Viviani
- 67 Samuele Zambelli
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
- 71 Sam Bennett
- 72 Bruno Armirail
- 73 Ben O'Connor
- 74 Valentin Paret-Peintre
- 75 Gianluca Pollefliet
- 76 Nicolas Prodhomme
- 77 Valentin Retailleau
EF Education EasyPost
- 81 Simon Carr
- 82 Stefan de Bod
- 83 Markel Beloki
- 84 Sean Quinn
- 85 Jack Rootkin-Gray
- 86 Georg Steinhauser
- 87 Jardi Christian van der Lee
Ineos Grenadiers
- 91 Elia Viviani
- 92 Andrew August
- 93 Tobias Foss
- 94 Michael Leonard
- 95 Brandon Rivera
- 96 Oscar Rodriguez
- 97 Ben Swift
Intermarche-Wanty
- 101 Louis Meintjes
- 102 Kevin Colleoni
- 103 Alexey Faure Prost
- 104 Arne Marit
- 105 Tom Paquot
- 106 Gijs van Hoecke
- 107 Boy van Poppel
Israel-Premier Tech
- 111 Pascal Ackermann
- 112 George Bennett
- 113 Oded Kogut
- 114 Matthew Riccitello
- 115 Mads Würtz Schmidt
- 116 Michael Schwarzmann
- 117 Rick Zabel
Lidl Trek
- 121 Juan Pedro Lopez
- 122 Dario Cataldo
- 123 Simone Consonni
- 124 Patrick Konrad
- 125 Jacopo Mosca
- 126 Natnael Tesfatsion
- 127 Carlos Verona
Lotto-Dstny
- 131 Thomas De Gendt
- 132 Johannes Adamietz
- 133 Jacopo Guarnieri
- 134 Jarne van de Paar
- 135 Lennert van Eetvelt
- 136 Henri Vandenabeele
- 137 Harm Vanhoucke
Movistar
- 141 One Rubio
- 142 Remi Cavagna
- 143 Davide Cimolai
- 144 Fernando Gaviria
- 145 Lorenzo Milesi
- 146 Ivan Romeo
- 147 Pelayo Sanchez
Soudal - Quick Step
- 151 Tim Merlier
- 152 Ayco Bastiaens
- 153 Jan Hirt
- 154 Bert van Lerberghe
- 155 Ilan van Wilder
- 156 Mauri Vansevenant
- 157 Jordi Warlop
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
- 161 Fabio Jakobsen
- 162 Tobias Lund Andresen
- 163 Alexander Edmondson
- 164 Enzo Leijnse
- 165 Max Poole
- 166 Timo Roosen
- 167 Julius van den Berg
Team Jayco-AlUla
- 171 Dylan Groenewegen
- 172 Eddie Dunbar
- 173 Jan Maas
- 174 Luka Mezgec
- 175 Kelland O'Brien
- 176 Jesus David Pena
- 177 Elmar Reinders
Visma | Lease a Bike
- 181 Olav Kooij
- 182 Bart Lemmen
- 183 Attila Valter
- 184 Loe van Belle
- 185 Tosh van der Sande
- 186 Mick van Dijke
- 187 Tim van Dijke
Tudor Pro Cycling Team
- 191 Arvid de Kleijn
- 192 Nils Brun
- 193 Sebastian Kolze Changizi
- 194 Rick Pluimers
- 195 Michael Storer
- 196 Florian Stork
- 197 Maikel Zijlaard
