Abu Dhabi has confirmed its cycling calendar for early 2027, and the most important line in the announcement is not a date. On 9 September 2026 the Abu Dhabi Media Office published the news that the UAE Tour Women and the UAE Tour Men will return in February 2027, organised by Abu Dhabi Sports Council in collaboration with the Union Cycliste Internationale and, in the wording of the release, empowered by AD Ports Group. The ports, logistics and trade group will continue as Presenting Partner of both races, extending a relationship that began with the 2026 editions.
The fifth UAE Tour Women will run from 3 to 6 February 2027. The ninth UAE Tour Men follows from 15 to 21 February 2027. Abu Dhabi Sports Council carried the same announcement on its own website the following day, and WAM and Dubai Eye 103.8 picked it up within hours. No route has been published yet, but the framing is already clear: two races that sit on the UCI calendar, a single headline partner, and a host emirate that is building towards the UCI Road World Championships Abu Dhabi 2028.
For anyone who works in sports sponsorship in the Gulf, the renewal matters as much as the racing. It shows how a state linked infrastructure company uses an international event to carry its name around the world, and it shows how Abu Dhabi builds a full sponsor ecosystem around a single sporting property. This piece looks first at the partnership and what it says about AD Ports Group, and then at the UAE Tour itself as a WorldTour event, its history, its stars, its route, its television footprint and the event sponsorship opportunities that sit around it.
AD Ports Group's arrival in cycling was announced on 19 January 2026 at a press conference at the Zayed National Museum on Saadiyat Island. According to Abu Dhabi Sports Council, the group was named main sponsor of both the UAE Tour Women and the UAE Tour Men until 2028, a three edition commitment that covers 2026, 2027 and 2028. The 2027 announcement is therefore not a fresh negotiation so much as the second chapter of a multi year deal, now restated with the stronger title of Presenting Partner and the distinctive "empowered by" credit in the event's official name.
The most visible asset in the package is the red jersey. In both races AD Ports Group sponsors the jersey worn by the leader of the general classification, which means its name sits on the shoulders of the rider every camera follows at every finish and on every podium. In February 2026 the group also gave its name to the last stage of the men's race, a 149 kilometre run from the Zayed National Museum to the Breakwater on the Abu Dhabi Corniche, which the Sports Council's results release listed as the Abu Dhabi Ports Group Stage.
At the January launch Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and Group CEO of AD Ports Group, explained the thinking in simple terms. "AD Ports Group firmly believes in the power of sport as a catalyst for positive societal impact and stronger community bonds," he said, adding that "the UAE Tour serves as an international platform to showcase the UAE's cultural identity." Abu Dhabi Sports Council's Secretary General, His Excellency Aref Hamad Al Awani, welcomed the group as a partner that supports the "continued growth of the event".
The September announcement leaned on the same themes. The Abu Dhabi Media Office linked the partnership to sustainable impact, community engagement and national pride, and said the UAE Tour "continues to create an impact beyond professional sport", citing its contribution to sport and tourism, the growth of women's cycling, youth and community involvement and sustainability. No AD Ports Group executive was quoted this time. The voice of the 2027 release belonged to Al Awani, who said that organising both races with the UCI "once again underlines the distinguished position the UAE has achieved on the global sporting stage" and "reflects the great confidence placed in the country to host major international sporting events."
At first glance a port operator and a bike race make an unusual pair. AD Ports Group does not sell anything to cycling fans directly. According to its public profile, Abu Dhabi Ports was established by Emiri decree in 2006, the wider group was formed in 2021, and the company listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in February 2022 under the ticker ADPORTS, with ADQ as its majority shareholder. Its business runs across five clusters: Ports, Economic Cities and Free Zones, Maritime, Logistics and Digital. Its customers are shipping lines, manufacturers, investors and governments.
That is exactly why the UAE Tour fits. For a business to business group with international ambitions, sports branding is less about selling a product and more about reputation, recognition and the story a company tells about where it comes from. The race passes through the places AD Ports Group wants the world to associate with Abu Dhabi, from the dunes of Al Dhafra to the Corniche, and the red jersey gives it a daily moment of brand awareness in front of a global cycling audience that would be hard to reach through trade advertising alone.
The cycling deal also sits inside a broader pattern of sponsorships across the group. In November 2025 KEZAD Group, the group's economic cities and free zones arm, signed on as a sponsor of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix, the SailGP Season Grand Final, which was staged at the group's Free Port at Mina Zayed on 29 and 30 November 2025. Abdullah Al Hameli, CEO of Economic Cities and Free Zones, said at the time that "this agreement reflects our commitment to hosting world class events that add value to Abu Dhabi." In September 2025 the group was also announced as the Fishing Equipment and Marine Sports sector sponsor of ADIHEX, the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition, according to ADNEC.
Read together, these deals describe a clear strategy. AD Ports Group backs events that are owned or supported by Abu Dhabi institutions, that have an international audience, and that connect in some way to the sea, to heritage or to the movement of people and goods. The UAE Tour is the largest of them, the one with the longest commitment and the one with the most global television exposure. It is a textbook example of how sports marketing can serve corporate positioning rather than consumer sales, and of how Abu Dhabi's leading companies use sponsorships to support the emirate's own story.
AD Ports Group is the headline name, but it is not alone. The 2026 editions showed how Abu Dhabi builds layers of partners around a single property. According to Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Mubadala sponsored the green jersey for the points classification, Aldar sponsored the black jersey for the intermediate sprints, and Burjeel Holdings sponsored the white jersey for the best young rider. Each of those brands owns a classification, a podium moment every day and a coloured jersey in every race photograph.
Below the jerseys sit stage partnerships. Khaleej Times, carrying a WAM report, noted that the opening stage of the 2026 men's race, 144 kilometres from Madinat Zayed to Liwa, was sponsored by Bin Hamoodah Auto. In the women's race, the final climb to Jebel Hafeet ran as the Modon Stage, according to the organisers of the Giro d'Italia Women, who reported the result. The prize ceremony on the Corniche brought representatives of Aldar, Burjeel Holdings, Breitling and Integrated Transport onto the stage alongside AD Ports Group and the Sports Council.
This structure is worth studying for any brand that wants to enter event sponsorship in the region, and it is a useful lesson in sports marketing for companies used to buying single assets. A single race can carry a presenting partner, four jersey sponsors, several stage partners, timing and official suppliers, and host locations that pay for the privilege of a start or finish. Each layer delivers a different kind of exposure, from the constant on screen presence of a leader's jersey to the concentrated local impact of a stage start in a particular community.
The UAE Tour is young by cycling standards, but it has deep roots. The Dubai Tour was first held in 2014 and the Abu Dhabi Tour in 2015. In September 2018 the two were merged into a single national race, and the first UAE Tour ran from 24 February to 2 March 2019 as part of the UCI WorldTour, the top tier of men's professional road racing. The race is owned by Abu Dhabi Sports Council and organised with RCS Sport, the company behind the Giro d'Italia, a pedigree that helps explain why the event looked and felt like a European Grand Tour from its very first edition.
Khaleej Times describes it as the only UCI WorldTour race in the Middle East, and that status is the core of its commercial value. WorldTour teams are obliged to take part in WorldTour races, so the start list in the UAE is always deep. The 2020 edition is remembered for less happy reasons, when the last two stages were cancelled during the early days of the Covid pandemic. The race came back in 2021 and has run every February since.
The roll of honour reads like a list of the sport's leading names. Primož Roglič won the first edition in 2019, Adam Yates won in 2020, Tadej Pogačar won in 2021 and 2022, Remco Evenepoel won in 2023, Lennert Van Eetvelt won in 2024 and Pogačar took a third title in 2025. A women's race was added in 2023 and joined the UCI Women's WorldTour from its first edition. Elisa Longo Borghini won it in 2023, Lotte Kopecky in 2024, and Longo Borghini again in 2025 and 2026.
From the 2026 editions the overall winners of both races receive 500 UCI points, according to Abu Dhabi Sports Council, a level that puts the UAE Tour among the most valuable one week races of the season for teams chasing ranking points. That matters to sponsors too, because it keeps the biggest teams sending their strongest riders to the desert in February.
No sponsor story about the UAE Tour is complete without the home team. UAE Team Emirates entered the WorldTour in 2017 as the first team from the UAE at that level, and was ranked number one in the UCI World Tour in 2023 and 2024, according to the team. In December 2024 the team announced a six year partnership with XRG, the Abu Dhabi energy and chemicals investment company wholly owned by ADNOC, which became co title partner and official energy partner from the 2025 season under the new name UAE Team Emirates XRG. XRG Executive Chairman Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said at the time that "XRG is excited and proud to partner with the No.1 ranked team in the UCI World Tour."
The 2026 race delivered the result the home team wanted. Isaac Del Toro, the 22 year old Mexican, attacked about two and a half kilometres from the top of Jebel Hafeet on stage six, dropped race leader Antonio Tiberi of Bahrain Victorious and rode alone to the summit. "It was a mental game and I had to keep trying and believe I could win," he told his team afterwards. He held the lead through the final stage and won overall by 20 seconds from Tiberi, with Luke Plapp of Team Jayco AlUla third, according to AFP as published by Gulf News. Del Toro also took the white jersey and UAE Team Emirates XRG won the best team classification. Jonathan Milan of Lidl Trek won three sprint stages and the green jersey.
The women's race told a similar story for the sister team. Elisa Longo Borghini of UAE Team ADQ won the queen stage to Jebel Hafeet on 8 February 2026 and with it the overall title, her third UAE Tour Women victory according to WAM. "This victory definitely tastes very good," she said after the finish. Monica Trinca Colonel finished second overall and Femke De Vries third.
The 2027 routes have not yet been published. The 2026 editions give a good idea of the scale. The men's race covered seven stages and 1,004.2 kilometres with 21 international teams, starting in Al Dhafra, visiting Al Hudayriyat Island for a 12.2 kilometre time trial, climbing to Jebel Mebrah in Ras Al Khaimah, crossing Fujairah and Dubai, finishing on Jebel Hafeet in Al Ain and ending on the Abu Dhabi Breakwater. The women's race covered four stages and 533 kilometres with 20 teams, running from Al Dhafra through Dubai and Abu Dhabi to a summit finish on Jebel Hafeet.
That route is itself a sales tool. Each stage is a chance to show a different emirate, a landmark or a new development to an international audience, and Al Awani said in the 2027 announcement that the races help in "showcasing the UAE's natural beauty and diversity." For tourism boards, developers and destination brands, a stage start or finish is a form of tv advertising that arrives wrapped inside live sport.
The broadcast footprint is broad. Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews both reported that the 2026 men's race was shown live on TNT Sports and discovery+ in the United Kingdom, on HBO Max in the United States, on FloBikes in Canada and free to air on SBS in Australia, with a free stream on the race's official YouTube channel in selected countries. The model was set from day one: for the first edition in 2019, Italian agency ADC Group reported a plan covering 13 television networks, including Abu Dhabi Sports and Dubai Sports as host broadcasters across the UAE and 24 more MENA territories, Eurosport across 64 territories in Europe and Asia Pacific, ESPN across 40 territories in Latin America and the Caribbean, and free to air coverage on RAI in Italy and L'Équipe in France. The organisers have not published audience figures for 2026, but the distribution alone explains why a brand would want its name on the leader's jersey.
With the presenting partner and the four jersey sponsors in place, the obvious top tier positions for 2027 are largely taken. That does not close the door to other brands. The 2026 editions showed room for stage partners, official suppliers, hospitality partners, timing and technology partners and host locations, and the organisers have every reason to keep building that list as the 2028 World Championships approach.
For brands looking at event sponsorship opportunities in Abu Dhabi, the UAE Tour offers several practical routes. A stage naming deal ties a brand to one day of racing and one location, which suits real estate developers, hotels and regional retailers. Official supplier status suits automotive, mobility, nutrition and technology companies whose products can be seen in use. Hospitality and VIP packages at summit finishes such as Jebel Hafeet give business to business brands a setting to host clients. Community programmes around women's cycling, youth participation and mass participation rides, all named as priorities in the 2027 release, offer purpose led activation for companies that want more than a logo on a banner.
There are also routes outside the official programme. Team partnerships with UAE Team Emirates XRG or UAE Team ADQ, athlete ambassador deals, fan zones and retail activations in the host emirates all draw on the same February window. For international brands, cycling sponsorship in the UAE also offers a way into the Gulf market through a sport that is closely associated with health, sustainability and the outdoors, values that sit comfortably with family audiences.
The key is to plan early. With the 2027 dates now fixed, the brands most likely to secure good positions are the ones that arrive with a clear objective, whether that is brand awareness across the region, client entertainment or content production. For companies weighing sports sponsorship opportunities in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the UAE Tour is one of the few properties in the country that combines a WorldTour start list, multi emirate coverage and a global television window in a single week.
The bigger picture is the UCI Road World Championships Abu Dhabi 2028. The UCI confirmed in August 2023 that Abu Dhabi will host the road world championships in 2028 and the track world championships in 2029, and The National quoted UCI President David Lappartient as saying that "Abu Dhabi possesses extensive experience hosting major sports events." Abu Dhabi already holds the UCI Bike City label, and the 2027 announcement explicitly presents the UAE Tour as part of the preparation for 2028.
That timeline gives AD Ports Group's three year commitment a clear shape. The group's first edition as main sponsor came in 2026, the second arrives in February 2027 and the third will fall in the same year that the world's best riders come to Abu Dhabi for the rainbow jerseys. For a sponsor, it is hard to imagine better timing. For the race, a stable presenting partner through that period provides the continuity the organisers need as they scale up.
Al Awani closed the 2027 announcement with a line that sums up the ambition. "We look forward to welcoming the world's leading female and male cyclists to the 2027 editions," he said, "and continuing the UAE's journey towards further sporting excellence and achievement." For the brands already on the jerseys, and for those still deciding whether to join them, the next two Februaries are a rare window in sports marketing in the region: a WorldTour race at home, a world championship on the horizon and a host city that knows how to turn both into a platform.
Sources: Abu Dhabi Media Office, Abu Dhabi Sports Council, WAM, Dubai Eye 103.8, Khaleej Times, Gulf News, UAE Team Emirates XRG, Giro d'Italia Women, Cycling Weekly, Cyclingnews, ADC Group, ADNEC, AD Ports Group, The National
