The route for the 2026 UAE Tour will feature two summit finishes and an individual time trial alongside the traditional sprinting opportunities, with Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) expected to lead the GC battle.
The route, which was unveiled on Monday, will take in the traditional Jebel Hafeet summit finish on stage 6, but it will also feature an earlier climbing day on stage 3, finishing atop the Jebel Mobrah.
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Stage 1: Madinat Zayed Majlis – Liwa Palace (144km)
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(Image credit: RCS)
(Image credit: RCS)
Stage 1 offers a punchy start to the race, heading through the desert and the Moreeb Dune before an uphill drag up to Liwa Palace, with a 5% gradient on the finishing straight. The ups and downs in the run-in could make this a tough stage, with a punchy rider able to take the spoils over a sprinter, depending on how it’s raced.
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Stage 2: Al Hudayriyat Island ITT (12.2km)
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(Image credit: RCS)
(Image credit: RCS)
Stage 2 takes place on Al Hudayriyat Island and will be a short, flat and fast TT, featuring only minimal turns and corners, meaning it will suit the speedy specialists. The gaps won’t be huge given the short length, but should see the GC riders battling for seconds already.
Stage 3: Umm al Quwain – Jebel Mobrah (183km)
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(Image credit: RCS)
(Image credit: RCS)
The first mountain stage of the race comes on stage 3, which will finish atop Jebel Mobrah for the first time. The riders will be climbing for some 15km, with average gradients of 10-12%, but ramps ticking over 17% in places, with the steepest sections coming in the final 6km.
Stage 4: Fujairah – Fujairah (182km)
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(Image credit: RCS)
(Image credit: RCS)
Finally, a more pure sprinter-friendly stage on stage 4, with a route that crosses the desert and several Emirates before finishing on a flat, wide finishing straight in Fujairah.
Stage 5: Dubai Al Mamzar Park – Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (166km)
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(Image credit: RCS)
(Image credit: RCS)
The fifth stage is as flat as it gets, with wide, straight roads all the way, making for likely a pretty straightforward day, and another bunch sprint on a 700m finishing straight.
Stage 6: Al Ain Museum – Jebel Hafeet (168km)
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(Image credit: RCS)
(Image credit: RCS)
It’s back to the mountains on stage 6 with the fairly classic Jebel Hafeet stage. It’s quite a flat run-in for most of the stage, and then the road goes up for 10km on a winding, hairpinned road, with gradients of around 8-9%, climbing to 11% near the top. Previous winners have included Tadej Pogačar and Adam Yates, though winning on Jebel Hafeet doesn’t always translate to a GC win.
Stage 7: Zayed National Museum – Abu Dhabi Breakwater (149km)
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(Image credit: RCS)
(Image credit: RCS)
The final stage will be for the sprinters again, with the overall likely decided on stage 6. Stage 7 is pan flat around Abu Dhabi, visiting key areas like Yas Island, before finishing in a bunch sprint in the city.