UAE Tour Debut Edition - Logo and Trophy unveiled in Dubai

Dubai, UAE, October 09, 2018:  In the Audi Dubai Showroom, home of Al Nabooda Automobiles, the Supreme Organising Committee of the UAE Tour have unveiled the event’s new logo and the new winner’s trophy. Both heptagonal – seven sided – shapes to reference the seven United Arab Emirates involved: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, and Umm al-Quwain. The merger between the Dubai Tour and Abu Dhabi Tour created a new seven-stage race that, in 2019, will start from Abu Dhabi and end in Dubai, while the 2020 race will reverse the route. The race, organised by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council (ADSC) and the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) in collaboration with RCS Sport, is slated for February 24 to March 2 and covers all seven Emirates.

 

 

Designed by the famous Italian manufacturer GDE Bertoni, who is well known for the production of the FIFA World Cup, this heptagonal trophy is 24kt gold plated, and weighs 5.5kg. On the back It bears all the names of the nine winners of both the Dubai and Abu Dhabi Tours: Taylor Phinney, Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel (twice a winner) and Elia Viviani for Dubai; and Esteban Chavez, Tanel Kangert, Rui Costa and Alejandro Valverde for Abu Dhabi - a top class honor roll that includes three World Champions and an Olympic Gold Medallist. The trophy will be awarded to the winner of the UAE Tour’s General Classification 

 

 

The logo consists of the ‘UAE Tour’ name written in red and green, surmounted by a partially-black stylised bike at the top of the heptagon to reference the UAE flag. The edge of the heptagonal logo, together with a stylised bike details, is in beige, a classic color ever-present in the event’s design identity. 

 

After the unveiling of the logo and trophy, the Supreme Organising Committee has also revealed some details about the UAE Tour’s connected activities, such as the UAE Tour Challenge, formerly known as Abu Dhabi Challenge, and the successful Educational project.

 

 

The first two editions of the Challenge, in 2017 and 2018, consisted of three race days in Abu Dhabi. The format will be updated to include four stages; two of them in Dubai, and two in Abu Dhabi. This multidisciplinary amateurs-only event will be scheduled in November, January and February across four iconic locations. For Dubai, the challenge will be held at the Al Qudra cycle path and around Hatta and the surroundings mountains of Hajar. For Abu Dhabi the Jebel Hafeet stage is confirmed, while the second location, Al Hudayriat Island is new to the Challenge. All the details of the UAE Tour Challenge will be published on the official website soon.

 

 

The new Educational project will consist in an hour-long workshop created exclusively for UAE schools focusing on familiarizing students with the history of the bicycle, the benefits of cycling and road safety. In the last three years, almost 4,000 children between 8 and 12 years old, and from 30 different schools in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Dhafra attended the Educational project. Thanks to the new UAE Tour, in 2019 the project will also be extended to several schools from the other Emirates.

 

“Sharing the know-how, the resources and the effort with the other Emirates is very important to build up the race and to have new targets. We always talk about discovering the territory with the riders but it’s just part of the big picture, that include activities such as the Educational program or the Challenge, which are now available to more even students and fans. This is the way: to increase the audience whether locally or internationally,” said H.E. Saeed Hareb, Dubai Sports Council Secretary General.

 

H.E. Aref Al Awani, Abu Dhabi Sports Council General Secretary, said: “The logo represents well the unity between the seven Emirates and the Trophy is reminiscent of the same concept. The new race is a big opportunity for cycling here, we know it and we’re working to be ready to be under the world’s spotlights at the end of February.”

 

“Every edition of the Dubai Tour involved our territory but this is the first time we’ve worked together for the same purpose. Being here today to represent Sharjah is a big honor and I’m sure we’re working in the right way to assure a big future to the UAE Tour and the sport of cycling in general,” said H.E. Eisa Hilal Al Hezami, Sharjah Sports Council General Secretary. 

 

Mr. Osama Al Shafar, President of the UAE Cycling Federation, said: “Since the very first edition both the Dubai and the Abu Dhabi Tour got positive feedback from the global cycling community. Great riders attended the tours, with amazing coverage from television and other media. Also locally, the feedback was great: thanks to the two races, many facilities for amateurs have been developed across the UAE and the global exposure has made everybody more ambitious. The decision to join forces was agreed in a very special year for the UAE - 2018 is the Year of Zayed - and guaranteed two more stages. We can’t wait to see a week-long competition among all the Emirates.”

 

Enrico Fili, RCS Sport DMCC CEO, said: “As RCS Sport we have a centennial heritage in organising cycling races in Europe. Here in the Middle East in the last five years we have worked very well with both the Dubai and Abu Dhabi Sports Council, proposing successful projects and race formats already well established in Europe. Let me say, the feedback has been excellent. The merger represents only a big chance to step up our game.”

 

Ali Al Nabooda, General Manager Al Nabooda Automobiles Audi, said: “We are very proud to be the automotive partner of the first UAE Tour. We partnered with Dubai Tour from the very first edition and witnessed an incredible success story. The Dubai Tour and later the Abu Dhabi Tour gained great international recognition. We are honored to be able to support this major international UAE event."