Bad news for the sprinters, good news for Tadej Pogačar? Artificial hill under construction for 2028 Abu Dhabi Road World Championships

When Abu Dhabi was announced as the host for the 2028 Road World Championships, the sprinters of the peloton must have been rubbing their hands together in glee, remembering the pan-flat sprint fest that was the last Middle Eastern World Championships in Qatar in 2016.

Finally, this would be another chance for the fast riders to get their hands on the rainbow jersey again, and surely any parcours in the vicinity of Abu Dhabi would be too flat for the likes of Tadej Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel or Lotte Kopecky. Right?

Well, wrong, it seems, as it has emerged this week that a significant climb – and some smaller rises – are being artificially constructed in Abu Dhabi to liven up the courses and, undoubtedly, give a chance to United Arab Emirates adopted home hero Pogačar.

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It was Belgian sprinter Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) who first brought up what was being built in Abu Dhabi, explaining that the riders have been seeing it grow every year when they visit for the UAE Tour. The comment raised some eyebrows, and Spanish outlet Marca investigated properly.

Marca confirmed that the city has been building the artificial climb of Al Wathba since 2023, and is adding some other rises on Hudayriyat Island, very possibly as inclusions for the road race courses in 2028.

Al Wathba was initially a modest climb, according to Marca – 1.4km long with an average of 6% – but it has been growing, as Merlier said, and in 2026 is set to be 2km in length, with an 11% gradient in the final 500 metres.

According to documents seen by Marca, the plan for 2028 is to extend the climb to 3.8km with a 6.5% average gradient, and 11% gradients in the final kilometre – getting steeper for the final 250 metres. With these specifications, the purpose-built climb could be truly decisive in the road races, and certainly a foe to the sprinters.

With Pogacar signed with the state-sponsored and UAE-registered UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad until 2030, it's no surprise that the nation would be keen to see him win a rainbow jersey there – which could be his third, fourth or even fifth title. However, going so far as to build new climbs is novel for a World Championships host city.

The 2026 World Championships in Montreal are on a punchy, Classics-style course, with the 2027 Worlds in Haute-Savoie also set to be climb-heavy, featuring several ascents of the Côte de Domancy in the road races.

My view

Matilda Price

I can see why the UAE are going to great lengths to create a course that might suit their golden boy (literally, we all saw that statue), but it would be disappointing to see another climb-heavy course for Worlds.

These punchy, difficult courses have become the norm at World Championships in recent years, and they are a good spectacle, but I think the Worlds should mix it up every now and then. Sprint-friendly courses definitely used to be part of the rotation, in Copenhagen in 2011 and Qatar in 2016, for example, but they've been sorely missed in recent years.

Perhaps some people want the World Champion always to be the most versatile talent in the peloton, but I think all different types of riders deserve a chance. I'd love to see Lorena Wiebes or Jasper Philipsen get the chance to sprint for a rainbow jersey – it's not like they aren't already champions deserving of a big crown.

I think the UCI was probably thinking they'd get a somewhat sprinty course for once when they awarded the 2028 Road Worlds to Abu Dhabi, so it would be a shame for the city to totally rip up the script all for the sake of a rider who already gets enough chances to win.