UAE Tour Men 2025 preview: Route, favourites and how to watch

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UAE Tour Men 2025 preview: Route, favourites and how to watch

With the Tour Down Under in the rear-view mirror, it’s the turn of the Middle East to have its time in the WorldTour spotlight. The men’s UAE Tour is the second WorldTour stage race of the year, with two summit finishes during a week of racing scheduled between the 17th and 23rd February 2025.

Last year’s edition was won by Lotto’s Belgian youngster Lennart Van Eetvelt after a hectic final stage to Jebel Hafeet in which the Belgian overtook Ben O’Connor in the GC by just two seconds, with Pello Bilbao close behind in third place. This year, order is restored as UAE Team Emirates XRG’s golden boy Tadej Pogačar will be looking to become the second man to win the UAE Tour while wearing the rainbow jersey. He’s already a two-time winner of the race, but he’ll be hoping to make it a lucky number three here as he kicks off his season in the Middle East.

The UAE Tour is also a crucial battleground for the sprinters, with four perfectly flat stages on offer. Sam Welsford, king of the sprints at the recent Tour Down Under, will be here, as will European Champion Tim Merlier, former Tour de France green jersey winner Jasper Philipsen, Visma’s Olav Kooij, Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan and Picnic-PostNL’s Fabio Jakobsen.

UAE Tour 2025: Key information

Date: Monday 17th-Sunday 23rd February 2025
Start: Madinat Zayed Shams Solar Park
Finish: Jebel Hafeet
Stages: 7
Distance: 1,013.2km
2024 winner: Lennart van Eetvelt (Lotto)
UK television coverage: Discovery+, Eurosport, Eurosport 2

UAE Tour 2025 route and stage-by-stage preview

As has become typical for the UAE Tour, one of the newest stage races on the WorldTour calendar, the race will be mostly flat, with the added excitement of two mountain-top finishes. The names are familiar, with the Jebel Jais on Stage 3 and the Jebel Hafeet on Stage 7. There will also be a GC shake-up on Stage 2’s 12km-long time-trial. Don’t forget, the UAE Tour can be ripped apart by crosswinds. At the women’s race earlier this month, Elisa Longo Borghini took a two-minute advantage over her rivals through an echelon split.

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Stage 1, Monday 17th February: Madinat Zayed Shams Solar Park – Liwa Palace, 138km

We begin the UAE Tour at a solar power station. It’s no ordinary solar power station though, Shams was the largest concentrated solar power (CSP) facility in the world when it opened in 2013.

The stage follows a highway south towards the Saudi border, passing over the Tropic of Cancer along the way. The run-up to the Liwa Palace is at a 1% slope, but that’s unlikely to have a strong influence on the outcome. Tim Merlier won here last year on the race’s opening day.and he’ll be lining up at this year’s race and hoping to do the same.

For film fans, Liwa is where the Dune films were shot.

Stage 2, Tuesday 18th February: Al Hudayriat Island – Al Hudayriat Island, 12.2km

The second stage will see the riders roll around Al Hudayriat Island on a 12km course. This route has been used in the past on two previous occasions. Filippo Ganna (2021) and Brandon McNulty (2024) have claimed wins on the island, however, neither of them will be here in 2025 to repeat the feat.

Stage 3, Wednesday 19th February: Ras al Khaimah – Jebel Jais, 181km

Jebel Jais provides the first of the UAE Tour’s two uphill finishes. This climb is a little tamer than the one to come, at an average gradient of 5.2% over its 19km ascent. The climb has been used on five occasions at the UAE Tour, boasting quite the Hall of Honour, including Primož Roglič, Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard. Last year, however, Ben O’Connor was the first to crest its 1,490m-high summit.

Stage 4, Thursday 20th February: Fujairah Qidfa Beach – Umm al Quwain, 181km

After two days without a sprint, the fast men have another chance at Umm al Quwain. Dutch sprinters have reigned supreme here in recent years. Dylan Groenwegen opened his WorldTour account here in 2023 while Olav Kooij claimed the victory in Umm al Quwain last year.

Stage 5, Friday 21st February: American University Dubai – Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, 160km

Stage 5 is a flat ride around Dubai’s suburbs, starting from the Dubai American University. The riders will spin around highways and sandy roads, passing by the Dubai Safari Park on their way to a bunch sprint at the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, the UAE’s first smart university. The university specialises in e-learning courses, offering degrees over the internet.

Stage 6, Saturday 22nd February: Abu Dhabi Cycling Club – Abu Dhabi Breakwater, 165km

The highest point in this mostly sea-level stage will be on a motorway sliproad after 15km.

The Abu Dhabi Breakwater arrival is well-trodden at the UAE Tour. It’s been used three times during the past four editions, with Tim Merlier (2023), Mark Cavendish (2022) and Caleb Ewan (2021) coming out victorious.

Stage 7, Sunday 25th February: Al Ain Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium – Jebel Hafeet, 176km

The final day of the UAE Tour goes up in elevation for the classic finish atop the 10.8km, 7% average Jebel Hafeet. This will, most likely, decide the GC standings, but who’s going to stop Tadej Pogačar?

UAE Tour 2025: The favourites

The UAE Tour has one obvious favourite: Tadej Pogačar. The Slovenian has won every week-long stage race he’s participated in since June 2021. Yes, he’s coming into this race without any racing in his legs, but this hasn’t hindered him in the past. He won his opening race last year, as he did in 2023 and 2022. It’ll be tough to beat him, particularly with a time-trial factored into the mix on Stage 3.

Regardless of the World Champion’s almost inevitable victory, the battle for the podium is wide open. Carlos Rodríguez is perhaps the most obvious contender for a podium spot. The climb up to Jebel Hafeet should favour the Spaniard who opened his 2025 campaign in Valenciana last week. Scotland’s Oscar Onley also showed signs of form at the Tour Down Under. Young riders have often gone well at the UAE Tour, so keep an eye out for the Picnic-PostNL rider.

Cyclist’s GC ratings

★★★★★: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates XRG)
★★★★: Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers), Oscar Onley (Picnic-PostNL)
★★★: Einer Rubio (Movistar), Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R), Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates XRG)
★★: Lennart Van Eetvelt (Lotto), Pablo Castrillo (Movistar), Ion Izaguirre (Cofidis)
★: Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Iván Romeo (Movistar)

How to watch the UAE Tour 2025

The UAE Tour 2025 will be available to watch in the UK on Discovery+ and it will also be shown live on the TV channel Eurosport 2 in the UK. For viewers in the UK and Ireland, the 2025 UAE Tour will be the final WorldTour race aired on the channel before it gets shut down at the end of February as part of Eurosport’s absorption into the TNT Sports network.

If it’s not being shown in your country, you may be able to watch coverage using a VPN – Virtual Private Network – which allows users to mask their IP address and watch geo-blocked content, provided they don’t need to pay for a subscription. This is also helpful for watching paid-for coverage while travelling abroad in countries without access.

One such example is ExpressVPN, which is well reviewed, helps users to find free to watch cycling, and costs start from around £5 per month.

Stage 1, Monday 17th February

Discovery+: 9:10 – 12:50
Eurosport 2: 10:50 – 12:15

Stage 2: Tuesday 18th February

Discovery+: 9:00 – 11:50
Eurosport 2: 9:50 – 11:15

Stage 3, Wednesday 19th February

Discovery+: 7:50 – 12:50
Eurosport 2: 10:50 – 12:30

Stage 4, Thursday 20th February

Discovery+: 8:00 – 12:50
Eurosport 2: 7:50 – 12:50

Stage 5, Friday 21st February

Discovery+: 8:35 – 12:50
Eurosport 2: 10:50 – 12:30

Stage 6, Saturday 22nd February