UAE Tour 2026 Route stage 5: Dubai - Dubai

Friday 20 February – Stage 5 of the UAE Tour starts and finishes in the city of Dubai. The 165-kilometre route is almost completely flat, although a brief venture into the desert takes the riders up to 100 metres above sea level.

Each year, the UAE Tour features a stage that takes place within the city limits of Dubai, but also briefly ventures into the desert to ride a section of the Qudra Cycle Track. After this out-and-back through the Qudra Desert, the route returns to the city.

The course for the Dubai stage is never exactly the same, but it almost always produces a bunch sprint. Only Mathias Vacek broke the pattern in 2022. The then 19-year-old Czech held off his breakaway companions Paul Lapeira, Dimitriy Strakhov, Alessandro Tonelli and Pavel Kochetkov in the sprint.

In the past two editions, Tim Merlier has taken the Dubai victory. Previous winners include Sam Bennett (2019, 2021), Dylan Groenewegen (2020) and Sebastián Molano.

Fancy riding the route yourself? Download GPX 5th stage 2026 UAE Tour.

Another interesting read: results 5th stage 2026 UAE Tour.