Many of the best sprinters and climbers in the world have assembled for UAE Tour. But Sam Bennett and Dan Martin have the class to beat any of them on their day. Given the quality of the field and the terrain, some great racing looks in store.
The line-up may be truly world class but Sam Bennett and Dan Martin go into the UAE Tour highly fancied for stages and possibly the overall.
With a mix of terrain and stages to suit both sprinters and climbers, the Irish riders will both be looking to get their hands in the air over the coming week.
And in Dan Martin’s case overall victory is a possibility if his squad can limit their losses in the team time trial.
His UAE Team Emirates outfit is riding its home tour – at least its sponsor’s tour – and having enjoyed a fantastic start to the year it will look to Martin to continue that fine run.
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Sam Bennett has already taken one victory this year and looked in mint condition at the Vuelta a San Juan.
And given his form in Argentina, where he would surely have taken two victories but for being boxed in on the opening day, Bora-hansgrohe has an on-form fastman in its ranks.
Bennett will need to have a good lead-out and great legs to take a win considering the men he will be sprinting against.
But he’s beaten them all before and based on his sprinting in Argentina, coming from very far back in the field to win the final stage, he will feel he can beat them all again in the Middle East.
Dan Martin may challenge for both stage victories and the leader's jersey in what is his team's home tour, of sorts.
The others who should be vying for the sprint wins include Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin), Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data), Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) and the UAE Team Emirates duo of Fernando Gaviria and Alexander Kristoff.
Cavendish is still on the comeback trail from illness and continues to search for top gear.
But while Kristoff is nursing injuries from his Tour of Oman crash on the final day, his compromised condition means Gaviria will be installed as undisputed sprint leader.
That will only serve to bolster the young Colombian’s chances. He took two stages in Argentina last month before abandoning Tour Colombia with illness.
It remains to be seen how good his condition is after that illness, but he should pose a real handful for Bennett and the other sprinters one he is back to full health.
Viviani is probably the man to beat, though Sam Bennett knows how to do that as his three Giro stage wins demonstrated last year.
The Italian national champion already has two wins in the bag this season; a stage of the Tour Down Under and the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
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Kittel, who scored only one win in a nightmare 2018 season, looks like he is getting back to his old self, though more racing is required before that prognosis is confirmed.
Still, he won Trofeo Palma in recent weeks and another victory at UAE Tour would settle his and his team’s nerves after last year’s wipe out.
Viviani and Valverde will be two of the most closely watched riders at UAE Tour.
Meanwhile, Ewan was 2nd on a stage in Down Under and finished just behind Viviani in the Cadel Evans race.
He will be desperate for a first win in his new team colours. At the Tour Down Under he crossed the line first on stage 5 but was relegated to last man in the group for dangerous riding.
Another sprinter who may be in the reckoning is Kristoffer Halvorsen; the new Team Sky man who won sprint stages at Tour de l’Avenir for the past two years.
Whoever proves quickest, a quality battle is in store with Ireland’s Sam Bennett in the middle of it and one of the very fastest of the world’s top men.
In terms of the overall battle and the fight for stage wins on the climbs, Dan Martin also faces stern opposition.
He will be up against the likes of world champion Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and recent Tour de Provence winner Gorka Izagirre (Astana).
One of the men of the season last year, Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), gets his new season underway at UAE Tour and is capable of anything.
Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) comes into the race after a strong, though not sensational, racing stint in Australia.
Another who should be in the mix for the harder stages and the overall title is Tom Dumoulin; the Team Sunweb man making his season debut.
And in the absence of Chris Froome, who has pulled out of the race to recover from his recent racing and training stint in Colombia; Team Sky has Michał Kwiatkowski and Gianni Moscon.
The race gets underway tomorrow, Sunday, with a 16km pan flat team time trial followed by a flat 184km opening road stage on Monday.
Tuesday’s third stage to Jebel Hafeet features a testing climb to the finish that could really suit Dan Martin. And stage 4 to Hatta Dam after 205km includes another uphill finish.
Next Thursday, while the profile is far from pan flat, the rises are small and it can suit Sam Bennett.
The following day, some 180km to Jebel Jais, concludes with a very hard uphill finish followed by what should be another sprinters’ stage on the final stage next Saturday.
Dan Martin has said a number of times of late he was hoping for good form in this race and between him and Bennett there could be a strong Irish challenge for victory on every stage.
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