UAE Tour Women 2023

UAE Tour Women 2023 Overview

When is UAE Tour Women? Four stages from February 9-12

How long is UAE Tour Women? 468km

Where does the race start? Port Rashid, Dubai

Where does it finish? Abu Dhabi Breakwater

The latest results from the UAE Tour Women

Elisa Longo Borghini wins UAE Tour Women as Kool takes final sprint

Charlotte Kool (Team DSM) sprinted to victory on the final stage into Abu Dhabi Breakwater, while Elisa Longo Borghini capped off a successful start to the 2023 season with an overall victory at the UAE Tour Women. 

The Trek-Segafredo all-rounder all but secured the title when she won stage 3 atop the decisive Jebel Hafeet, and then maintained her lead to win the top honours at the four-day race ahead of teammate Gaia Realini and Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ), for an all-Italian final podium.

• Stage 4: Elisa Longo Borghini wins UAE Tour Women
• Stage 3: Elisa Longo Borghini wins UAE Tour Women Jebel Hafeet mountain finish
• Stage 2: Lorena Wiebes wins windswept second stage
• Stage 1: Charlotte Kool beats old teammate Wiebes

Results powered by FirstCycling

UAE Tour Women 2023 Information

UAE Tour Women is a brand new race launched in 2023. The women's peloton will head to the Middle East for a four-day race from February 9-12. 

The inaugural event will mark the third round of the Women's WorldTour, after the kick-off in Australia at the Women's Tour Down Under and the Cadel Evans Road Race.

Organised alongside the men’s race which has been held since 2019, the UAE Tour Women promises a festival for the sprinters and one big chance at the overall classification atop the event's decisive ascent Jebel Hafeet.

Women's WorldTour – The definitive guide for 2023

Join Cyclingnews' coverage of the UAE Tour Women with race reports, results, photo galleries, news and race analysis.

Organisers of the event, Abu Dhabi Sports Council and RCS Sports, have confirmed that 20 teams are set to take on the UAE’s unique and varied terrain and pass significant landmarks.

"Seeing the Women’s UAE Tour coming to reality is something we are very proud of. With the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, we worked with the objective of bringing further cycling excitement to the region, and in doing so, it is, therefore, natural to offer the same playing field to women with a women's version of the UAE Tour at the same level as the men’s race," said Fabrizio D’Amico, Chief Operating Officer RCS Sports and Events and UAE Tour Director.

"We want this new race to become one of the best and most important races of the UCI Women’s WorldTour calendar with the goal also to help the development of women’s cycling within the Country and the whole Continent."

UAE Tour Women 2023 - Route

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The UAE Tour Women is a perfect course for sprinters to kick off the 2023 season. 

The route offers three days for the sprinters with two intermediate sprints and the potential for a bunch of sprints on stage 1 at the Dubai Harbour, stage 2 at Al Mirfa and stage 4 at Abu Dhabi Breakwater. The most decisive day of the event, one for the climbers and those vying for the overall GC is on stage 3's which ends atop Jebel Hafeet.

UAE Tour Women - Contenders

Many of the major sprinters will be racing at the UAE Tour Women to dial in their new lead-out trains and capture their first victories of the 2023 season. However, the decisive climb to Jebel Hafeet will provide one shining opportunity for each team's overall contender to make their mark on the race.

Cyclingnews highlights the riders to watch at the UAE Tour Women.

After transferring from Team DSM, Lorena Wiebes will make her road racing debut with her new outfit SD Worx at the UAE Tour Women. The fastest sprinter in the Women's WorldTour with 23 wins last year, she lines out with her new lead-out train that includes Barbara Guarischi in an attempt to capture all three sprint stages.

Canadian Champion Maggie Coles-Lyster will wear the new colours of Zaaf Cycling Team after a turbulent start to the season due to the collapse of the B&B Hotels outfit. She had a promising sprint campaign during the Australian summer road racing season and travels overseas to race at the UAE Tour Women before kick-starting her European season.

Charlotte Kool is one of the fastest-rising sprinters in the peloton, and after spending one valuable season under the tutelage of former teammate Lorena Wiebes, she is more than ready to move into the sprint leadership role at Team DSM. This will be their first race where Kool and Wiebes compete as rivals in the bunch sprints, and after the off-season preparations and getting to know their respective lead-outs, it will be exciting to see who comes out victorious. She has a phenomenal lead-out in Pfeiffer Georgi, which will give her the edge over the other sprint trains.

Not just a battle for the sprinters but also one decisive climb to the top of  Jebel Hafeet on the penultimate stage 3 will play a major role in the outcome of the overall classification.

Grace Brown joins the team at the UAE Tour off the back of a successful Australian season where she won the overall title at the Tour Down Under with a strong performance on the finale into Campbelltown. FDJ SUEZ also bring Ardennes Classics revelation Marta Cavalli, who, after recovering from a serious crash at last year's Tour de France, is aiming to get back into winning form.

Trek-Segafredo's newcomer Gaia Realini will make her debut as a pure climber, and she could surprise the team with the first big win of the season. They also bring sure-fire Elisa Longo Borghini, who has the strength to win stages and the overall title.

Liane Lippert made her debut in her new Movistar Team kit at the CV Feminas where she was second behind teammate Floortje Mackaij, and will line up at the UAE Tour. A cagey rider who can hold her own on the steep climbs with a powerful finish, watch her try and stake a claim on the overall GC.

Urška Žigart could prove to be Team Jayco AlUla's best climber, while teammate Kristen Faulkner will be the most well-founded competitor. With a focus on one main climb, Žigart, has a shot at the top three and maybe even the win.

One of the new signings at Israel Premier Tech-Roland, Claire Steels, has had a strong start to the season at the Tour Down Under and undoubtedly aims to carry that into the UAE Tour with teammate Tamara Dronova, both on a hunt for success and points toward the women's team promotion and relegation battle that will decide top-tier licences in 2024.

UAE Team ADQ will field former world champion Marta Bastianelli. The Italian sprinter is no doubt a rider to watch at the UAE Tour Women this year alongside her teammate Silvia Persico, who was the revelation at the Tour de France Femmes. The team has revamped their lead-out to include Chiara Consonni and Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini, alongside Laura Tomasi and Anna Trevisi, which will be tough to beat lead-out.

Teams

• Canyon-SRAM
• FDJ SUEZ Futuroscope
• Fenix-Deceuninck 
• Human Powered Health 
• Israel-Premier Tech Roland 
• Liv Racing TeqFind
• Movistar Team 
• Team DSM
• Team Jayco-AlUla
• Team SD Worx
• Trek - Segafredo
• UAE Team ADQ
• Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
• Bepink
• Ceratizit - WNT Pro Cycling Team
• Laboral Kutxa - Fundación Euskadi
• St Michel - Mavic - Auber93 
• Team Coop - Hitec Products
• Top Girls Fassa Bortolo
• Zaaf Cycling Team