Video: First UCI MTB XC Marathon Race in the Middle East

Feb 12, 2020
by Sarah Moore  

On February 7, 2020, the first edition of the HERO Dubai marathon XC race took place in Hatta-Dubai, the first stage of the HERO World Series.

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41 Comments
  • 45 0
 "The very earth is trying to repel Dubai, to dry it up and blow it away. The new Tiger Woods Gold Course needs four million gallons of water to be pumped on to its grounds every day, or it would simply shrivel and disappear on the winds."

Sounds like a great place to ride.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html%3famp
  • 46 3
 Yeah, professional sports in general are on a roll trying to work with every single corrupt country there is. UCI, FIFA, IAAF, they're all the same. Sad to see these Dubai puff pieces on the PB front page.
  • 12 1
 A great read and nice to be made aware of. Thank you for posting.
  • 6 1
 Although a long read, if everything in that article is true, I'd love to hear the UCI's take on it. Thanks for posting!
  • 1 0
 The article is from 2009. If wonder if the situation is still the same nowadays, or in 11 years they managed to improve things a bit.
  • 3 1
 A good article that still rings true today. Having been to this dreadful place many times with work and also to visit friends I can confirm everything this piece states is true. One BIG issue missing though from this article is the terrorism connections in the UAE. It is very much secretly financed through companies based in Dubai, large corporations funnelling money, laundering and the government is aware but profiting from it all.
  • 6 0
 @mendoza1940: Yes, this is hugely out of date. It's hotter now and significantly more emissions and resource intake heavy.
  • 1 0
 Saudi is probably worse , it’s the big money boxing Mecca now , AJ got £60m to fight a lump of lard ! Eek
  • 2 0
 These are not news, have you just discovered Dubai from a 2009 article from someone who got paid to write it?
Or are you people suddenly surprised by the poor and the homeless? Why do not you have a look at a street next to you? What about west Vancouver? Major countries were built from slaves and very very low paid workers too, does this sound familiar? And I can definitely show you everyday myriads of lies and conspiracy articles written, exposing the western societies, their rulers and their way of life .
Coming from a very original and beautiful place I couldn't leave in Dubai, it's too much artificial for me, but I do not like propaganda either.
  • 2 0
 @bikegreece: very true just look at orange head and are version boris !
  • 40 5
 Does the womens field have to ride in a burka?
  • 39 3
 No, but i heard they are selling beards and stones in the pits.
  • 2 0
 @Ttimer:
  • 2 4
 Only If they come from Freiburg im Breisgau.
  • 6 5
 Educate yourself!

www.quora.com/Is-wearing-a-burqa-compulsory-for-tourists-in-Dubai
  • 9 1
 @Ttimer: 2 flats ones & a bag of gravel please.
  • 3 0
 @Dropthedebt: Should be a good one today, local boy.
  • 23 2
 I've been a good boi. Getting good grades in my classes, showing up to work early, helped elderly lady cross the street, toppled communism.

Can you people at Pinkbike please release Grim Donut?
  • 16 0
 I helped Communism cross the street, was class in my grade and toppled an old lady, can I have a review of a Trek Session?
  • 5 1
 @browner: Trek e-Session review is on its way sir.
  • 4 0
 All the review is gonna say is that even though it's red with white graphics like last year's model, it's a little longer, lower, rolls on 29"s, has knock block even though it has a dual crown, and that it feels "racey."
  • 17 1
 I can't quite understand why you would hold an event in a place where it's illegal to be gay.

People are allowed to hold different ideas and customs, but I am also free to avoid their countries. I'd say this is a pretty clear example of "Vote with your feet/Vote with your wallet."
  • 1 0
 No it's not, they just do not advertise it to attract attention.
  • 1 0
 @bikegreece: Wait now, it's not illegal, but they would rather everyone think it was? Okay.
  • 6 0
 Where money walks bullshit talks (or something simmilar)... why hold event like this in country where there is zero interest into this sport?
Looks simmilar to some road race event i saw on TV - peloton driving in 40+ degrees C on glorious empty 6-lane highways with most of the viewers (all 20 of them) being random road/construction workers.
Expect ski slopestyle events soon...
  • 1 0
 One of the malls in Dubai has a ski hill inside it, complete with a full lift and everything!
  • 5 0
 aré those bar ends at 14:14 wow. also that start was terrible.....following a vehicle thats kicking up sand for you to breath and then just stops and makes the leaders lose there positions. Then they have to dodge the people standing in the way on the corner.....seriously what is this joke of an event.
  • 1 0
 That start was a spectacle
  • 8 0
 Never bin dair nor duhn dhat.
  • 1 0
 I thought Dubai was just dessert. This is very different from the PNW but it looks diverse and there is plenty of plants and trees. Over 400 amateur s entered the race so there is a huge XC scene in Dubai . Probably a few diamond encrusted Yeties on the track.
  • 1 0
 Looks like pretty varied series with rounds 2 & 3 in the Dolomites and Thailand.
I have seen some coverage of the Garmin Titan Desert Series in Saudi. It's a 4 Day Stage Race.
That series will also be going to Morocco and LaPaz Baja Sur Mexico later this year.
  • 1 2
 If I'm not mistaken, the race was not in Dubai, but was in Hatta. There's not a massive mountain bike scene in the Gulf in general, but that's not to say that no one rides here. In Oman our grass roots races get 100 participants, and the fun enduro races in the UAE get 200+.

Im not sure why anyone would want to race UCI marathon regardless of where it was held though!

There are certainly lots of issues in the countries in these areas that people find culturally and morally reprehensible, but then name me a perfect country.
  • 1 0
 Hatta is in Dubai emirate.
  • 1 0
 In my native Cumbrian 'Dubai' translates roughly as 'corrupt hell-hole loved by blind European di*k*eads'. I've never been, and don't ever want to.
  • 2 0
 Very nice and attractive. but defiantly not the first UCI marathon in the middle east.
  • 3 0
 dubai is trash
  • 1 0
 If we're all going to live on Mars someday I guess you gotta start somewhere.
  • 2 0
 If thats the case...I will just keep spending my weekends in Moab, St George and Las Vegas. Red rocks, dirt, sand, wind blows non stop. Plus those places have beer. Dubai...not so much
  • 1 0
 That start is hilarious, as is the commentator, they have to slow down behind the dune buggy and weave between 'spectators'.
  • 1 0
 how much is a UCI Location? may be i buy one for my birthday.....
  • 1 0
 Honey, I boiled the planet.







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