"I've compiled the elevation profiles for all seven stages of the UAE Tour. Huang Chong, this race is very well suited for you to contend for the general classification."
After the team announced its roster, Huang Chong returned that evening to the house he rented with Chen Junyi for dinner. She handed him a tablet displaying the race's elevation profiles and continued, "This edition has only two high-mountain stages, and their terrain is almost identical to Stage 5 of the Tour Down Under.
The earlier portions are all completely flat, the kind of flat where you can see straight to the horizon. Then, in the end, there is only one major mountain climb.
But you need to note that the UAE Tour is much like those week-long races in Europe—it includes an ITT, set in Stage 2.
So if you want a good result, you can't lose too much time in the ITT."
Huang Chong took the tablet and first gave the elevation profiles for the seven race days a rough look. He found that winning the overall title at the UAE Tour required riders to possess exceptionally well-rounded abilities.
This was a typical stage for GC riders to shine.
First, they could not be dropped while cruising on the flats. Their time-trial level could not be too poor either, and in the end, they still had to conquer terrifying high-mountain climbs.
Although the elevation profiles showed that the UAE's two summit finishes did indeed resemble Willunga Hill from the Tour Down Under, in terms of actual difficulty, these two Middle Eastern mountains completely outclassed the queen stages of the Tour Down Under and the Tour of Guangxi.
For example, Jebel Jais in Stage 3 appeared to have an average gradient of only 5.6%, but its length reached a terrifying