Emirates is building a mountain that could benefit Pogacar in the World Championship

Several years ago, the United Arab Emirates built an artificial hill, Al Wathba, which is a regular feature in the UAE Tour. The choice of this country as the host for the 2028 World Championship has led the UAE to work on elevating and making this mountainous difficulty tougher in order to favor the team leader, Tadej Poga?ar.

Criticism of the United Arab Emirates' decision to toughen the artificial mountain of Al Wathba

After several years of World Championships with tough profiles, suitable only for seasoned climbers, sprinters were rubbing their hands with the choice of the United Arab Emirates as the host for the 2028 event. However, it seems that the leaders of the Arab country are aiming for victory in that edition to fall into the hands of Tadej Poga?ar, the flagship cyclist of UAE, and to achieve this, they are adjusting the initially planned circuit to toughen the only climb, the artificial hill of Al Wathba.

According to Tim Merlier, in recent years this ascent has been increasing both in length and gradient, and it is expected that by 2028, when the World Championship takes place, it will become a tough ascent of 3.8 km at a 6.5% gradient.

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Not content with toughening this climb, it has also been revealed that, on Hudayriyat Island, where the circuit will take place, several artificial walls with gradients of up to 10% have appeared in recent months, which has caused outrage among sprinters like the Belgian cyclist who long for an opportunity for themselves in a World Championship, something that has not happened since the 2017 edition held in the Norwegian city of Bergen, where Peter Sagan raised his arms for the third consecutive time in a close sprint against Alexandre Kristoff and Michael Matthews.

Voices against this decision by the United Arab Emirates have also been raised, such as that of veteran Groupama-FDJ director Marc Madiot, who launched a sharp jab at the UCI, saying, “I dare not imagine that the UCI would accept that we build an artificial mountain under the pretext of making the race harder, or even to give an advantage to a cyclist.”

Interestingly, when the UCI awarded the World Championship to the UAE, the condition was a flat circuit, seeking a change after so many years of toughness. In fact, the first proposal from the Emirates was a finish at Jebel Hafeet, an option that was vetoed by the highest cycling authority.