In the first three editions of the Abu Dhabi Tot it all came down to the final haul up the Jebel Hafeet, which is a 10.8 kilometres climb at 6.6%. Last year, Rui Costa won the decisive stage by besting Ilnur Zakarin in a two-up sprint, while Tom Dumoulin came in 10 seconds down on them. Bauke Mollema finished in fourth at half a minute. Usually, these are the gaps after climbing Jebel Hafeet.
The 2018 Abu Dhabi Tour is the first edition with an individual time trial. The 12 kilometres course is flat and in theory this offers specialists an opportunity to put 20 to 30 seconds into the lesser time trialists. The likes of Dumoulin, Kelderman and Zakarin must be pleased.
The extension changes the dynamics of the race. The time trial comes after three flat stages and before the mountain stage to Jebel Hafeet. So riders who lost time in the chrono-race are forced to attack at the final climb, while riders who did well at the time trial just have to react.
Possibly the race boils down to time bonuses. The first three riders at Jebeel Hafeet gain 10, 6 and 4 seconds.
Favourites 2018 Abu Dhabi Tour
*** Tom Dumoulin, Wilco Kelderman, Ilnur Zakarin
** Ion Izagirre, Alejandro Valverde, Miguel Ángel López, Rohan Dennis
* Fabio Aru, Rui Costa, Rafal Majka, Julian Alaphilippe, Simon Yates, Michael Woods
Abu Dhabi Tour 2018: Route maps, height profiles, and more
Click on the images to zoom
Abu Dhabi Tour Route
Abu Dhabi Tour Riders
Related articles all winners - Abu Dhabi Tour Valverde takes mountain stage and GC victory - Abu Dhabi Tour 20 Rohan Dennis wins time trial and takes overall lead - Abu Dhabi Tour 20 Bauhaus bests Kittel in millimetres sprint, Viviani still in lead - Abu Dhabi Tour 20 Viviani sprints to victory and overall lead - Abu Dhabi Tour 20 Kristoff wins 1st stage and takes lead - Abu Dhabi Tour 20 Route stage 1: Madinat Zayed – Madinat Zayed - Abu Dhabi Tour 20 Route stage 2: Yas Island – Yas Island - Abu Dhabi Tour 20 Route stage 3: Abu Dhabi - Abu Dhabi - Abu Dhabi Tour 20 Route stage 4: ITT Al Maryah - Abu Dhabi Tour 20 Route stage 5: Al Ain - Jebel Hafeet - Abu Dhabi Tour 20 More articles Ruta del Sol 2019: The Route
Ruta del Sol 2019: Riders
Ruta del Sol 2019: Favourites
Ruta del Sol 2019 Route stage 1: Sanlúcar de Barrameda – Alcalá de los Gazules
Ruta del Sol 2019 Route stage 2: Sevilla - Torredonjimeno
Ruta del Sol 2019 Route stage 3: Mancha Real - La Guardia de Jaén
Ruta del Sol 2019 Route stage 4: Armilla - Granada
Ruta del Sol 2019 Route stage 5: Otura - Alhaurín de la Torre
Ruta del Sol: Winners and records
Tour of Valencia 2019: Groenewegen wins last stage, Izagirre overall winner
UAE Tour 2019: The Route
UAE Tour 2019: Riders
UAE Tour 2019: Favourites
UAE Tour 2019 Route stage 1: TTT at Al Hudayriat Island
UAE Tour 2019 Route stage 2: Yas Mall – Abu Dhabi
UAE Tour 2019 Route stage 3: Al Ain – Jebel Hafeet
UAE Tour 2019 Route stage 4: Dubai – Hatta Dam
UAE Tour 2019 Route stage 5: Sharjah – Khor Fakkan
UAE Tour 2019 Route stage 6: Ajman – Jebel Jais
UAE Tour 2019 Route stage 7: Dubai – Dubai
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2019: The Route
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2019: Riders
Paris-Nice 2019: The Route
Paris-Nice 2019: Riders
Tirreno-Adriatico 2019: The Route
Volta a Catalunya 2019: The Route
E3 BinckBank Classic 2019: The Route
Tour of Flanders 2019: The Route
Tour of Flanders 2019: Riders
Paris - Roubaix 2019: The Route
Paris - Roubaix 2019: Riders
Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2019: The Route
Giro 2019: The Route
Giro 2019: Riders
Tour of California 2019: The Route
Visit the Tour de France
Tour de France 2019: The Route
Tour de France 2019 Route stage 1: Brussels - Brussels
Tour de France 2019: Riders
Vuelta 2019: The Route
Vuelta 2019: Riders
Cycling Calendar 2019
Tour of the Alps 2019: The Route
Win a free cycling jersey!
Race Results Service