UAE Tour 2020 Route stage 5: Al Ain

UAE Tour 2020 Route stage 5: Al Ain - Jebel Hafeet

Thursday 27 February - At 162 kilometres, the 5th stage of the UAE Tour is likely to be decisive in terms of GC. The route runs on the flat to a summit finish at Jebel Hafeet. The final drag is 10.8 kilometres long and the average gradient sits at 6.6%.

The route is not entirely the same as last year, but the essence is unaltered. Following a long day on exposed roads the race comes down to the last 10.8 kilometres. Alejandro Valverde likes this climb very much. In last year’s UAE Tour he outgunned Primoz Roglic in a two-up sprint, while he also won atop Jebeel Hafeet in 2018’s Abu Dhabi Tour.

The race starts on the border with Oman, in Al Ain, and travels into the desert. Following a large and entirely flat loop the riders turn back to Al Ain. They move through the city to take the Jebel Ḥafeeṫ Mountain Road, which is a three-lane roadway that goes up for 10.8 kilometres.

The Jebel Ḥafeeṫ climb remains wide all the way to the line, while the average gradient sits at 6.6%. The slope is hovering between 8% to 9% from kilometre 4 to kilometre 8 and kicks up to 11% with 2.8 kilometres remaining. The road then levels out and even features a small descent just before the final ramp that leads up to the line.

The first three riders on the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while two intermediate sprints – at kilometre 24.6 and at kilometre 148.6 – come with 3, 2 and 1 seconds.

The 5th stage of the UAE Tour starts at 12.30 and the race is expected to finish around 16.30 – both local times.