Favorites stage 1 UAE Tour 2025 | A World Championship for sprinters, but watch out for punchers in a tricky sprint
Cycling
The UAE Tour is back! The well-known WorldTour race has already hosted the women's edition and will now run from Monday to Sunday with the men. The opening stage is typically a sprint, but will it unfold the same way as in 2024? IDLProCycling.com takes a closer look.
Route preview stage 1 UAE Tour 2025
The UAE Tour is usually a race with three key scenarios: sprint finishes, climbing stages, or echelons. In the first stage of the 2025 edition, a fourth element might come into play—punching. Unlike last year, the finale in Liwa does not finish in the city center but at the foot of the palace, which proudly sits atop a small hill.
According to the organizers, the final meters of the stage feature an average gradient of 5%, following a route that mostly consists of wide, smooth, and straight roads leading into the finale. The stage starts from Madinat Zayed Shams Solar Park. In theory, this should still be manageable for the sprinters, but don’t be surprised if a few punchy riders—who usually lack the raw watts for a flat sprint—seize the opportunity here.
Times
🕘 Start: 1.20 PM (local time) | 4.20 AM (EST)
🏁 Finish: 4.30 PM (local time) | 7.20 AM (EST)
Weather for stage 1 UAE Tour 2025
The riders better bring sunscreen, as the opening day in the Emirates will be scorching hot. Temperatures will rise to a maximum of 32°C (90°F) throughout the day, which could play a significant role in the race. Strong winds are not expected, so there’s no reason to sound the echelon alarm just yet.
Favorites stage 1 UAE Tour 2025
As mentioned, the finish is uphill, but that shouldn't be a major issue for today’s top sprinters. We're looking forward to a clash between the big four: Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike). Of them, Philipsen is the only one who has not yet raced, and won ... Is he having start-up problems? Or will he also come right off the hateful zero?
Beyond these four powerhouse sprint trains, several other fast men could seize the opportunity with the right timing. Sam Welsford arrives in the UAE brimming with confidence after a strong campaign in Australia with Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty) and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) also have the speed to contest the finish in this kind of race.
Read more below the photo.
But that's far from the end of the story. What about Dylan Groenewegen representing Jayco-AlUla? He showed his speed during the AlUla Tour, as did Juan Sebastián Molano from UAE Team Emirates-XRG. Meanwhile, Arvid De Kleijn of Tudor was playing catch-up after a crash on day one and will be eager for redemption.
Like Welsford, we can’t overlook Aaron Gate from Astana, given his strong sprints in Australia. And to wrap up the list—especially with this uphill sprint—we have Tobias Lund Andresen of Picnic-PostNL. He’s not a pure power sprinter but could surprise in this kind of finish. It’s no coincidence he already claimed victory in the Surf Coast Classic.
Favorites stage 1 UAE Tour 2025, according to IDLProCycling.com
Top favorites: Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step), Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)
Outsiders:Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Sam Welsford (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic-PostNL) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla)
Long shots: Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor), Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE), Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty) Aaron Gate (Astana), and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious)
Read also
IDL-productions
British rising star goes all-in for the spring after Tour de l'Avenir victory: "All the way to Liège-Bastogne-Liège"
Favorites stage 1 Tour of the Algarve 2025 | Will Van Aert join the sprint after the traffic circles?
John Degenkolb takes on a new role this spring for Picnic PostNL: "I really believe in these guys"
Vingegaard proposes 2 potential co-leaders from his team as possible Tour tactics against Pogacar
Favorites stage 2 UAE Tour 2025 | Time trial on a flat surface: Will Pogacar hit the mark here?
Latest Cycling News
Favorites stage 4 UAE Tour 2025 | Titan clash between Merlier, Milan and Philipsen —Or will a fourth sprinter steal the win?
Vanmarcke sees world champion Pogačar pushing the limit, while Van Aert remains unique in this area
Froome reacts to his friend Geraint Thomas’ retirement and calls Pogacar one of the best riders ever
Juan Ayuso excels with new approach and smashes climbing record in Sierra Nevada
Pogacar takes double victory: "But I was hoping Joshua Tarling would be able to hang on"
Popular Cycling News
Vingegaard proposes 2 potential co-leaders from his team as possible Tour tactics against Pogacar
Philipsen avoids yellow card after first stage UAE Tour: "I didn't realize I was doing something wrong"
Favorites stage 3 UAE Tour 2025 | Finish on Jebel Jais: the first uphill encounter, right up Pogacar's alley
Evenepoel shows off at the premiere of Belgian film in super expensive jacket, and makes progress in his rehabilitation
🎥 INEOS brings bad news about Egan Bernal after hard crash in the final of Clásica Jaén
Latest Comments
- Remco is still very young. And injuries can absolutely keep you from overdoing it and getting worse. The recent Remco accident didn't keep him from being able to ride a recumbent inside. Wout's knee is a different story thoughVeganpotter23-01-2025
- Van der Poel style is winning by a half a lap and leading the race from the end of the second lap.
Barnes127420-01-2025 - If she thinks talent alone will put her there she will not see many podium finishes much less a GC finish.....work as a team utilizing tactics to consistently be at the top.Germanrazor10-01-2025
- This was very informative! Luiz Antonio Duarte Ferreiraluizantonioduarteferreira02-01-2025
- Well explained, thanks for the clarity! Daniel DantasDanieldantas20-12-2024
- This is the kind of 'news' that belongs in a cheap tabloid. No matter how boring the offseason gets, nobody wants to read this.
santiagobenites19-12-2024 - I wish we could have seen him try. He'd absolutely get dropped before Pogi overtakes his domestiquesVeganpotter10-12-2024
- Talk is cheap! Next year barring crashes with a healthy team... all well be on track! Some need to talk to make a headline!mootman27-11-2024
- I do not see this event listed on HBO Max Sports Online? Can anyone confirm? Thanks!
MrYuck23-11-2024 - It seemed that he was focusing forward at the time of the crash, after seeing a quick video snippet. But one thing I think he should focus on more intently is breaking a bad habit he has, right now. And that is his constant looking over his shoulders. He does that so much, that I am very sure it is not good for him. Simply watch videos of the greats of CX and you will see very little of that constant looking over their shoulders. That is a behavior that betrays a bit of insecurity on his part. He shouldn't be so concerned, incessantly, about what is over his shoulder. He needn't worry they didn't all disappear. He neds to keep his focus more ahead of himself, and he needs to pay a bit more attention to himself, in a confident manner. It is very frustrating to watch, because it is apparent that he has a lot of potential, and is in much better shape thwan many of his competitors, but the mental game needs to be sharpened more, because that part of strategy plays a huge part in the final results
reemmo022-11-2024