Ruote Amatoriali

Five representatives of the peloton at the start of the 2017 Dubai Tour spoke to the media this afternoon in the official Dubai Tour Headquarters. The high class bunch including last year’s Dubai Tour winner, Marcel Kittel, (Quick-Step Floors), 2015 Dubai Tour winner Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data), Elia Viviani (Team Sky), John Degenkolb (Trek - Segafredo) and the enfant du pays Yousif Mirza (UAE Abu Dhabi) were joined by H.E. Saeed Hareb, Dubai Sports Council General Secretary. The official Start List is now available.

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QUOTES
Marcel Kittel said: “Dubai has always been a good place for me to race, especially last year with my new team. It was great to win the GC, so it’s special to come back. I can only say I’ve had a good time training and the moment has come to find out if I’m in the right shape for winning again.”

Mark Cavendish said: “I’ve been here since last week and I’m really happy to be back. I finished last season in November, so I’ll have to see where my form is at. We’re here with a strong Dimension Data team for the sprints and I’m here to do my best. The sport in general is picking up here and in Abu Dhabi. The number of cyclists is phenomenal. Every year, there are more spectators – it’s great to be part of this!”

Elia Viviani said: “I’ve had a really good winter. I tested my condition last week in Argentina and I’m really happy with it but I have already got three second places so I hope for the first win to come this week! With one more day of racing, I have one more chance. The weather will help for a great week of work. At Team Sky, we’re focused on sprinting, and we also have Gianni Moscon for GC in the hardest stage. We’re ready!”

John Degenkolb said: “I’m super happy to be back after missing out last year due to the training accident with the team. I had a great start to 2015 here, which became the most successful season in my career so far. Now I’m looking forward to racing again. I want to start well with new team [Trek-Segafredo], I want to do some good sprints and I want to get to know my team-mates better. Then Hatta Dam is something special – I won up there two years ago.”

Yousif Mirza said: “I’m happy to be part of a new team [UAE Abu Dhabi]. It’s a WorldTour team and it’s a new challenge for me. I’m hoping to have a good race here at the Dubai Tour. I’ve been training with Mark Cavendish these past few days, I took him to Hatta Dam.”

H.E. Saeed Hareb, Dubai Sports Council General Secretary

H.E. Saeed Hareb, Dubai Sports Council General Secretary, said: “Cycling is now really popular in our Emirates, thanks to the Dubai Tour that turns four years old tomorrow with this very special edition. Thanks to the UCI, we have an additional day of competition that allows us to explore the surrounding territories better, with an interesting finish in Ras Al Khaimah on stage 2 and in Fujairah the following day. It will keep the media and the fans’ interest in the event alive for an even longer period. The other stages are already classics: thanks to Nakheel, we’re expecting to see an amazing sprint on the Palm, in front of the Atlantis gate, tomorrow. Then, on day four, the climb of Hatta will probably define the General Classification, while on the last day we will discover a new place, City Walk, for the last stunning sprint and the final podium.
From the first edition in 2014, we’ve seen the Dubai Tour’s growth in every single area: last year the worldwide media outlets covering the Dubai Tour on race days increased by 21%, the accredited media outlets on site rose by 4%, social media impact grew by 50%. On the television side, the 2017 edition of the Dubai Tour will be broadcast worldwide in 182 countries, 27 more than last year and 70 more than the 2015 edition.
I take this opportunity to thank those who allow all these achievements: firstly His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council for his support and Patronage. Then the UAE Cycling Federation, all the sponsors, the governmental authorities and RCS Sport.”

Lorenzo Giorgetti, RCS Sports and Events DMCC CEO, said: “Firstly I would like to thank the Dubai Sports Council for their great collaboration that has allowed the event to grow up edition by edition. On our side, the introduction of the fifth stage enhances this further: ensuring that our partners can count on even more opportunities to get closer to their target audience, and also to increase the challenge on the road. Riders are the core of this sport that is finding a very fertile ground here in Dubai: we have here three of the era’s best sprinters; Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel and Elia Viviani; one of the best puncheurs, John Degenkolb; and the enfant du pays, Yousif Mirza… it’s a show that you cannot miss! Let me thank all our partners for their trust and the support they are providing for the 2017 Dubai Tour.”

Marcel Kittel (GER - Quick-Step Floors)
Born on 11 May 1988 in Arnstadt, Germany, and a professional rider since 2011, Kittel’s palmares includes 74 victories, with five stages at the Dubai Tour and the last year’s general classification (Blue Jersey) and point classification (Red Jersey) along with 14 Grand Tour stage wins (four at the Giro d’Italia, nine at the Tour de France and one at the Vuelta a España).

Mark Cavendish (British Isles - Team Dimension Data)
Cavendish was born on 21 May 1985 in Douglas, Isle of Man (British Isles) and became a professional road cyclist in 2007 after some years as track specialist. With 11 victories in his first professional season he passed the record held by Alessandro Petacchi. After that, his palmarès has continued to grow: now “Cav” has won 15 stages at the Giro d’Italia, a mighty 27 at the Tour de France, and three at the Vuelta a España. In 2011, in Copenhagen (Denmark), he became UCI Road World Champion, and boasts one-day-race successes such as Milano-Sanremo (2009) and the National Road Race Championships. In 2016 Mark won the gold medal with Bradley Wiggins in the Madison at the Track World Championships; on 2 July he took the opening stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish at Utah Beach and put on the maillot jaune for the first time; in August he won the silver medal at the Rio Olympic Games in the Omnium. Cavendish won two stages and the overall victory at the 2015 Dubai Tour.

Elia Viviani (ITA - Team Sky)
Viviani, born on 7 February 1989, is one of the most accomplished sprinters in the peloton, having claimed 40 victories since turning pro in 2010. As well as being a talented road rider, Elia also has an admirable record on the track: five gold medals in the European Track Championships (Points Race in 2012 and 2013, Madison in 2014, Omnium in 2014 and 2015) and, in 2016, the gold medal at the Rio Olympic Games in the Omnium. In 2015 and in 2016 he won the Dubai Tour second stage and wore the Blue Jersey as leader of the GC.

John Degenkolb (GER - Trek-Segafredo)
Degenkolb, a puncheur from Gera, Germany (born on 7 January 1989), has won the Milano-Sanremo (2015), Paris-Roubaix (2015), Paris-Tours (2013), Gent-Wevelgem (2014) one-day races and a stage at the Giro d’Italia (2013), along with 10 stage victories at the Vuelta a España. “Dege” won the Hatta Stage of the 2015 edition of the Dubai Tour, wearing the Blue Jersey. John lives in Frankfurt am Main.

Yousif Mirza (UAE - UAE Abu Dhabi)
Yousif Mohamed Ahmed Mirza Al-Hammadi was born on 8 October 1988 in Khor Fakkan. He is a sprinter and won multiple Emirati national titles and the silver medal in the road race at the 2015 Asian Cycling Championships. By racing in Rio last summer, he became the first Emirati cyclist since Ali Sayed Darwish in 1996 to qualify for the Olympic Games Thanks to his good past results, he’s the first Emirati professional rider to become a member of a WorldTeam.

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