Gallery: Dubai Tour kicks off with spectacular presentation

The 127 riders that will form the peloton for the first ever edition of the Dubai Tour paraded before the Crown Prince of Dubai on Tuesday evening in the final act before the racing begins with a 9.9km time trial on Wednesday.

The inaugural edition of the four-day race has used its financial muscle attracted some of sports biggest names, with Mark Cavendish, Vincenzo Nibali, Joaquim Rodríguez, Peter Sagan, Rui Costa, Tony Martin, Fabian Cancellara, Alejandro Valverde, Taylor Phinney and Marcel Kittel all traveling to the gulf for the race.

The big-name riders lead their teammates on stage in the centre overlooking the artificial lake at the foot of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest skyscraper in the world.

With a show of national pride and perhaps a growing interest in cycling, the UAE team was the first on stage after a spectacular show of lights, dancers floating under balloons, loud music and the world's largest choreographed fountains, making for a presentation as spectacular as any ever seen at the Tour de France.

The riders used their bikes to ride from the giant shopping mall to the stage, posed for a team photograph and then filled the stage. Many could not resist taking "selfies" or posing for photos under the towering Burj Khalifa.

Costa showed off the new Lampre-Merida world champions' jersey in which he will race for the first time, while Cavendish looked on form in his white British national champion's jersey.

After a day of official photographs, a chaotic press conference and the presentation, many of the riders could not wait to begin racing in the opening 9.9km individual time trial.

Some riders have already competed at the Santos Tour Down Under or the Tour de San Luis but for many others the first edition of the Dubai Tour, marks the start of their 2014 racing season.

Cyclingnews will have extensive coverage of the Dubai Tour, with race reports, photo galleries, news, exclusive interviews and video content from every stage.

Start Order

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamTime
1Tom Veelers (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano13:05:00
2Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek Factory Racing13:06:00
3Evan Huffman (USA) Astana Pro Team13:07:00
4Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo13:08:00
5Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin Sharp13:09:00
6Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Team Katusha13:10:00
7Juraj Sagan (Svk) Cannondale13:11:00
8Tan Peng Yuan (Tpe) RTS-Santic Racing Team13:12:00
9Steven Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team13:13:00
10Manabu Ishibashi (Jpn) Vini-Fantini-Nippo13:14:00
11Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team13:15:00
12Valter Pereira (Por) Banco BIC Carmim13:16:00
13Nawaf Albalooshi (UAE) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team13:17:00
14Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Lampre-Merida13:18:00
15Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team13:19:00
16Cheng Ji (Chn) Team Giant-Shimano13:20:00
17Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Trek Factory Racing13:21:00
18Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Astana Pro Team13:22:00
19Majid Albalooshi (UAE) United Arab Emirates13:23:00
20Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Tinkoff-Saxo13:24:00
21Raymond Kreder (Ned) Garmin Sharp13:25:00
22Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Team Katusha13:26:00
23Daniele Ratto (Ita) Cannondale13:27:00
24Wen Chung Huang (Tpe) RTS-Santic Racing Team13:28:00
25Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team13:29:00
26Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Vini-Fantini-Nippo13:30:00
27Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team13:31:00
28Joao Pereira (Por) Banco BIC Carmim13:32:00
29Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team13:33:00
30Luca Dodi (Ita) Lampre-Merida13:34:00
31Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team13:35:00
32Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano13:36:00
33Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek Factory Racing13:37:00
34Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team13:38:00
35Mansour Thani (UAE) United Arab Emirates13:39:00
36Rory Sutherland (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo13:40:00
37Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin Sharp13:41:00
38Alexandr Porsev (Rus) Team Katusha13:42:00
39Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cannondale13:43:00
40Alex Coutts (GBr) RTS-Santic Racing Team13:44:00
41Peter Velits (Svk) BMC Racing Team13:45:00
42Kim Magnusson (Swe) Vini-Fantini-Nippo13:46:00
43Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Movistar Team13:47:00
44Daniel Mestre (Por) Banco BIC Carmim13:48:00
45Alexandr Pliuschin (Mda) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team13:49:00
46Andrea Palini (Ita) Lampre-Merida13:50:00
47Wouter Poels (Ned) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team13:51:00
48Lawson Craddock (USA) Team Giant-Shimano13:52:00
49Fabio Silvestre (Por) Trek Factory Racing13:53:00
50Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana Pro Team13:54:00
51Ahmad Albalooshi (UAE) United Arab Emirates13:55:00
52Jay McCarthy (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo13:56:00
53Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Garmin Sharp13:57:00
54Luca Paolini (Ita) Team Katusha13:58:00
55Marco Marcato (Ita) Cannondale13:59:00
56Simon Buttner (Fra) RTS-Santic Racing Team14:00:00
57Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team14:01:00
58Alessandro Malaguti (Ita) Vini-Fantini-Nippo14:02:00
59Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Movistar Team14:03:00
60Diogo Nunes (Por) Banco BIC Carmim14:04:00
61Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team14:05:00
62Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre-Merida14:06:00
63Nikolas Maes (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team14:07:00
64Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Giant-Shimano14:08:00
65Danilo Hondo (Ger) Trek Factory Racing14:09:00
66Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Astana Pro Team14:10:00
67Ahmed Almansoori (UAE) United Arab Emirates14:11:00
68Bruno Manuel Sil Pires (Por) Tinkoff-Saxo14:12:00
69Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin Sharp14:13:00
70Pavel Brutt (Rus) Team Katusha14:14:00
71Edward King (USA) Cannondale14:15:00
72Ruslan Karimov (Uzb) RTS-Santic Racing Team14:16:00
73Rick Zabel (Ger) BMC Racing Team14:17:00
74Antonio Viola (Ita) Vini-Fantini-Nippo14:18:00
75Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team14:19:00
76Bruno De Matos Sancho (Por) Banco BIC Carmim14:20:00
77Mohammed Albalooshi (UAE) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team14:21:00
78Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida14:22:00
79Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team14:23:00
80Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano14:24:00
81Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Trek Factory Racing14:25:00
82Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team14:26:00
83Khaled Altani (UAE) United Arab Emirates14:27:00
84Ivan Rovny (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo14:28:00
85Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Garmin Sharp14:29:00
86Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Team Katusha14:30:00
87Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale14:31:00
88Keon-Woo Park (Kor) RTS-Santic Racing Team14:32:00
89Yannick Eijssen (Bel) BMC Racing Team14:33:00
90Riccardo Stacchiotti (Ita) Vini-Fantini-Nippo14:34:00
61Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team14:35:00
92Henrique Madeira Casimiro (Por) Banco BIC Carmim14:36:00
93Adil Jelloul (Mar) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team14:37:00
94Nelson Oliveira (Por) Lampre-Merida14:38:00
95Mark Renshaw (Aus) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team14:39:00
96Marcel Kittel (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano14:40:00
97Bob Jungels (Lux) Trek Factory Racing14:41:00
98Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team14:42:00
99Mohammed Almansoury (UAE) United Arab Emirates14:43:00
100Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo14:44:00
101Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin Sharp14:45:00
102Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Team Katusha14:46:00
103Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Cannondale14:47:00
104Sun Jae Jang (Kor) RTS-Santic Racing Team14:48:00
105Sebastian Lander (Den) BMC Racing Team14:49:00
106Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Vini-Fantini-Nippo14:50:00
107Adriano Malori (Ita) Movistar Team14:51:00
108Manuel Antunes Amaro (Por) Banco BIC Carmim14:52:00
109Soufiane Haddi (Mar) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team14:53:00
110Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-Merida14:54:00
111Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team14:55:00
112Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Team Giant-Shimano14:56:00
113Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Factory Racing14:57:00
114Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team14:58:00
115Yousif Mirza (UAE) United Arab Emirates14:59:00
116Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo15:00:00
117Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Garmin Sharp15:01:00
118Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Team Katusha15:02:00
119Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale15:03:00
120Boris Shpilevsky (Rus) RTS-Santic Racing Team15:04:00
121Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) BMC Racing Team15:05:00
122Willem Jakobus Smit (RSA) Vini-Fantini-Nippo15:06:00
123Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team15:07:00
124Rafael Ferreira Reis (Por) Banco BIC Carmim15:08:00
125Rafaa Chtioui (Tun) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team15:09:00
126Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida15:10:00
127Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team15:11:00

 

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