THE ABU DHABI TOUR ACTIVITIES ARE GO!

The Abu Dhabi Tour Fan Zone will open tomorrow at Nation Towers while the first Advertising Caravan campaign starts on the Abu Dhabi Corniche. The Abu Dhabi Tour Educational Project reaches almost 2000 students this month.

Abu Dhabi, 16 February 2017 – With just a week to the start of the Abu Dhabi Tour, the only Middle Eastern race in the UCI WorldTour calendar, it’s time to unveil all the activities around the four-stage cycling event. The fans’ official headquarters – the Fan Zone – is open from tomorrow, Friday 17 February, and throughout the Abu Dhabi Tour, at Nation Towers, the luxury complex near the southern end of the Corniche. In the Galleria, Abu Dhabi Tour fans will find cycling-related activities, a venue dedicated to the sponsors,omega replica the DubaiEye radio studio and a large screen to follow the race action live. The Fan Zone will be open from tomorrow, 12pm to 10pm (Thursdays, weekend days and Sunday 26 February) and from 12pm to 8pm, Monday to Wednesday.

Another attraction for Abu Dhabi Tour fans will be the signature podium before the start of each stage. This preliminary procedure is attended by all the teams and all riders are required to sign at this special podium and then be interviewed and photographed by the media. This is when fans can ask for signatures and "selfies" with their favourite riders against a backdrop of live music and an English-language race commentary. The signature podium is an important part of the daily program before the race starts in Madinat Zayed on Thursday 23 February (Emirates Motor Company Stage), in Al Maryah Island on Friday 24 February (Nation Towers Stage), in Al Ain on Saturday 25 February (Al Maryah Island Stage) and the last day, Sunday 26 February at the Yas Marina Circuit (Yas Island Stage). 

Educational Project

Another unique project powered by the Abu Dhabi Tour in collaboration with ADEC nis the Educational Project, that ran for the first time last October. It consists of hour-long classes created exclusively for Abu Dhabi, Western Region and Al Ain schools, focusing on familiarizing students with the history of the bicycle, the benefits of cycling and road safety. Thanks to the positive feedback from the inaugural Tour, more and more schools agreed to host this special activity. During the whole of February the Abu Dhabi Tour instructors are visiting 16 schools, involving about 2000 students.

Advertising Caravan

As well the Fan Zone opening, tomorrow, Friday 17 February, will see the first Advertising Caravan activity of the 2017 Abu Dhabi Tour. The travelling promotional project will visit all the main Abu Dhabi landmarks over the following days. Then, during race days, the caravan, that includes specially branded promotional vehicles, will anticipate the riders on their route to the finish line, in a format similar to European Grand Tour events.

Here is the full Advertising Caravan schedule for the pre-race days:

• 17 February: Abu Dhabi Corniche
• 18 February: Abu Dhabi Downtown
• 19 February: Khalifa City / Yas Island
• 20 February: Reem Island / Baniyas
• 21 February: Yas Marina Circuit
• 22 February: Abu Dhabi Corniche

The Abu Dhabi Tour Challenge is ready for the knock out!

The first round of the Abu Dhabi Tour Challenge, an Individual Time Trial on Sunday 5 February, was a great success with 257 entries representing 32 nationalities. The second event, another Individual Time Trial, on Sunday 12 February was a sell-out with 300 entrants taking to the track. The quickest male rider, first in the overall classification, is Jasper Carpaij, whose fastest lap of the Yas Marina Circuit was 6 minutes and 51 seconds. The fastest female rider is Yvonne Van Hattum who recorded a best lap of 7 minutes and 45 seconds. The final event is scheduled for Tuesday 21 February with an amazing new formula: ‘The Knock Out Challenge - Never be the Last’. Competitors will face the challenge of a precise time limit within which to complete the first lap, and that time will be reduced each new lap. Riders who can’t complete the lap within the time limit will be eliminated. Registration is available on site on race day at the ADSC booth at Yas Marina Circuit or visit https://www.premieronline.com/

#RideToAbuDhabi

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Abu Dhabi Tour Media Kit

From the official online pressroom the media can download high resolution pictures of the 2016 race, the various press conferences, the opening ceremony and the UCI Cycling Gala. In order to download the pictures, just go to http://pressroom.rcssport.it/ (username: press / password: press), select “Scarica contenuti/Download contents” on the top right, choose “2016” from the menu on the left, then “Ciclismo”, and then “Abu Dhabi Tour”. The photos are free of charge for editorial use, as long as both the Abu Dhabi Tour and the photographer’s name is quoted.