The race sets off from Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, which is the home stadium of Al Ain FC of the UAE Pro-League, or ADNOC Pro League, the top football league in the United Arab Emirates. The route follows a familiar playbook and penetrates the desert landscape north of the city.
Following a large and entirely flat loop the riders return 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 climb remains wide all the way to the line, while the average gradient sits at 6.6%. The gradients are hovering between 8% to 9% from kilometre 4 to kilometre 8 and kick up to 11% with 2.8 kilometres remaining. The road then levels out considerably and even goes downhill for a moment.
Jebel Hafeet and the UAE Tour are inextricably linked. In four editions the race saw five stage finishes on the flanks of the mountain. Alejandro Valverde took the win in 2019, while both Adam Yates and Tadej Pogacar emerged victorious in 2020, as there were two finishes on Jebel Hafeet that year.
Yates and Pogacar, who are now team mates, battled it out in a sprint on the following two occasions. Both with the same outcome – Pogacar won.
The first three riders on the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while the intermediate sprints come with 3, 2 and 1 seconds.
Ride the route yourself? Download GPX stage 7 UAE Tour 2023.
Another interesting read: results 7th stage & final GC 2023 UAE Tour.
UAE Tour 2023 – stage 7: route, profile, tweets
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