Bunel starstruck, Ferrand-Prévot curious about her form, Wiebes looks forward to sprint clashes with Kool and Balsamo at UAE Tour

Team SD Worx-Protime begins its season Thursday in the United Arab Emirates with the start of the UAE Tour, the second WorldTour stage race of the year. The Dutch team skipped the Australian party, but with a sprint star like Lorena Wiebes in its ranks, missing this race would have been a missed opportunity for victories. After all, the team had the highest number of wins in its history the previous season.

Leading lady Wiebes has been looking forward to the new season. Last year, she also started the UAE Tour, and during the first two stages, that immediately meant two victories. That was a good start. The year before, she was good for one win. Taking part in the UAE Tour has guaranteed success and a nice start to the new year.

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In the Tour de France Femmes, Kool managed to beat Wiebes twice

UAE Tour promises to be a great battle between top sprinters

"I'm really looking forward to the new season. Will I start the UAE Tour with confidence? It is always exciting to discover what progress the other riders have made. You know what numbers you are pedaling yourself, but you are not sure how that compares to the others. I do know that we worked hard as a team last winter. Hopefully that will be enough to achieve success right away. If you get your first win quickly, it is often a release. Some pressure immediately goes off then," she told her team. 

During the four-day stage race, the sprinters have three distinct chances. The wind could possibly ruin the second day. Other than that, nothing seems to stand in Wiebes' way of three chances at victory. However, she needs to defeat the competition in this UAE Tour.

"The UAE Tour already promises to be a nice battle between the sprinters. The official start list is not yet known, but normally Elisa Balsamo, Charlotte Kool and Chiara Consonni are all at the start. Sofie Van Rooijen is also starting in UAE Tour with a new sprint train. So there are a lot of good sprinters present. So we are definitely going to get some nice bunch sprints.This is the ideal gauge," Wiebes believes.

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The familiar pictures from the UAE Tour

UAE as ideal season opener

It is a race to let the sprint trains compete against each other for a while. To see where the weaknesses of the other lie. And of course find out how strong your own sprint train in. "As a sprinter, the UAE Tour is the perfect start to the season. The weather is good, there are sprint opportunities and the tough stage over Jebel Hafeet provides a good training incentive," Wiebes says. "A quiet start, but certainly tough enough because of the competition and Jebel Hafeet."

The Dutch top sprinter also sees the tour as more challenging than the previous two years. "They also made the overall tour a little tougher. Some stages got longer. I'm also looking forward to the second day of racing, where we might be able to draw echelons. According to the current forecast, the wind will be hard enough and coming from the right side. That would be ideal, though, because that way you train course toughness right away," concludes Wiebes, who managed to win 22 times last year.

Ferrand-Prévot thinks Jebel Hafeet suits her, but it remains a question mark

For Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, the UAE Tour means her official comeback as a road cyclist. She can immediately compete with the climbing top. "I feel good. I had a good winter and gained a lot of new insights. The past few months were mainly about adapting. From now on, the transformation to riding races starts. I am very much looking forward to that," the 32-year-old rider tells her team.

Team Visma | Lease a Bike will also start with Marion Bunel. The 20-year-old Frenchwoman is also new to the team and is still a bit starstruck. "It's my first race for the team and the first race I'm riding together with Pauline. I still can't believe I'm in a team with her. She has been a role model for me from a young age and now I have the privilege of learning from her every day. I couldn't have imagined that even in my dreams," she says.

On Jebel Hafeet, Ferrand-Prévot will find out where she stands against riders like Elisa Longo Borghini. Something that is still a big question mark right now. "I think this climb should suit me well. The tricky thing is that I have no idea what to expect and how my level is compared to the other riders. I'm very curious about that. Although the UAE Tour is not a main goal for me, it would be nice to start the season on a positive note." In that respect, the Dutch formation might be able to count on Bunel even more effectively. She already finished fifth in the UAE Tour last year.

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