World champion Sagan critical of weather

Abu Dhabi - Inaugural Abu Dhabi Tour gets underway tomorrow

Newly crowned world champion Peter Sagan was critical of the hot weather that the riders will encounter in the inaugural Abu Dhabi Tour, which begins on Thursday. The UAE Capital will witness some of the world's best cyclists battle it out in the final race of the season. The race consists of four stages, which also includes a climb over the menacing Jebel Hafeet on the third day of the Tour.
The riders will traverse 175km on the opening day, which is the ADNOC Stage, followed by the Capital Stage of 130km on Day Two. The toughest stage of the Tour is the Al Ain Stage, consisting of 140km starting from Al Qattara Souq, the first 33km follow a series of broad, straight roads. Then the peloton will trace a wide circle around the city, crossing the Green Mubazzarah oasis before starting the final climb. 11km long, the Jebel Hafeet ascent reaches an altitude of 1,000m on gradients that average 7.5% and touch 12% on the lower slopes.
The climb, on wide, well surfaced roads and with long, sweeping bends, eases into a short descent with 1.5km to go, before resuming a shallow climb to the finish line. The final climb will, in all probability, decide the General Classification. The last Stage of the Tour is the Yas Stage with the riders doing 110km under the floodlights of the Yas Marina Circuit, on Sunday. The peloton will complete 20 laps (5.5km each) culminating in the last Abu Dhabi Tour sprint.
"After one very crazy week, to come here and it is very hot. And I don't like it hot. I don't understand that there are no rules for weather conditions," Sagan said on Tuesday.
The Slovakian ace, riding for Tinkoff-Saxo won the Elite world road race championships in Richmond, Virginia, last week.
"I think it is dangerous riding when the temperatures are over 40. We had one very bad experience with one of my teammates. One race, we had the last climb and it was very hot and he broke down on the asphalt and he was very tired. He had a lot of burns and he stopped riding the bike," added the 25-year-old. The weather forecast over the race weekend shows that the temperatures will hover close to 40 degrees. Sagan, nicknamed 'The Terminator,' will line-up for the first time in a race, donning the Rainbow Jersey of the world champion.
And Sagan, a junior world champion in 2008, said that a lot of hard work has gone into reaching the top. "For sure it is a very nice feeling," Sagan said on becoming world champion.
"I think nobody can understand the feeling of a rider who has just won the world championship. There is a lot of hard work behind that. For me I'm proud of the Rainbow Jersey and proud of this world championship," said Sagan, who has won stages in the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana.
james@khaleejtimes.com