In only a few short years, the United Arab Emirates’ largest city, Dubai, has established their race as one of the premier destination for the world’s fastest sprinters. Running from February 6-10, it serves as the testing grounds for many Tour de France-bound sprint trains. If the race – five stages covering over 800 km of windswept desert – is not decided in the crosswinds, it will surely be decided on the stage four finishing climb to Hatta Dam.
Rally Cycling brings their best leadout riders and sprinters to this race. With three stage wins at the Tour of Utah and four U.S. Criterium titles amongst them, Eric Young, Brad Huff, and Ty Magner will lead the team in Dubai. Former world time trial champions Danny Pate (U23) and Brandon McNulty (Junior) will provide the firepower needed to go shoulder to shoulder with the world’s best. Robin Carpenter and Jesse Anthony will be pulling double duty, racing for breakaways and acting as middlemen in the sprint leadout.
“Racing in Dubai will be one of the toughest challenges we’ve ever faced,” said Performance Manager Jonas Carney. “Many of the best sprinters in the world will be there with their leadout trains. It will be a tall task to generate results, but if we want to reach the next level we need to push ourselves. This is a great opportunity for our athletes to sprint against the best. It will take time to adjust that level of racing and that is precisely why we need to do races like Dubai.”
The team will toe the line against two-time defending champion Marcel Kittel, former world champion Mark Cavendish, and current European road champion Alexander Kristoff. With ten WorldTour teams starting the race, the Rally Cycling sprint train will be put to the test.
Dubai Tour Roster
Jesse Anthony
Robin Carpenter
Brad Huff
Ty Magner
Brandon McNulty
Danny Pate
Eric Young
Directors: Eric Wohlberg and Andy Bajadali.
Bajadali, who rode for the team from 2008-2012, will get a head start on his directing career with a directorship spot in Dubai with Eric Wohlberg. During his career he won the UCI 2.2 Tour of Thailand and finished runner-up at the Tour des Pyrenees. With his international racing experience and knowledge of the Circuit Sport organization, Baj is sure to contribute to the team’s success from day one.
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