UAE Team Emirates-XRG will line up at O Gran Camiño for the first time on Tuesday, with two Emirati national champions named in the cycling squad.
Abdulla Jasim Al-Ali and Mohammad Almutaiwei have both been selected for the five-stage race in Spain, where Adam Yates returns to lead the team after the end of the spring Classics campaign.
For Yalla Sports readers, the main point is clear enough. Two young riders from the UAE are getting another chance to race alongside established WorldTour names on a European stage.
Al-Ali won the UAE national time trial title, while Almutaiwei took the road race crown on Sunday. Their call-up comes straight after that success, and gives both riders a chance to test themselves in a demanding week of racing in Galicia.
They join a line-up that also includes Julius Johansen, Vegard Stake Laengen and Kevin Vermaerke.
The race starts with a 15-kilometre individual time trial in A Coruña, ending at the Torre de Hércules lighthouse. It is a short opener, but not a simple one, with enough changes in rhythm to create early gaps.
Stage 2 runs from Vilalba to Barreiros over 148.6km, with several climbs packed into the closing section. Stage 3, from Carballo to Padrón, is expected to suit the same type of aggressive all-round riders.
The decisive day is likely to be stage 4. The Queen stage from Xinzo de Limia to Alto Cabeza de Meda covers 145.7km and includes close to 3,000 metres of climbing, much of it in the final 60km.
For Al-Ali and Almutaiwei, the aim will learning the level, understanding the demands of European stage racing, and doing their job for the team around a proven leader in Yates.
That alone makes their inclusion significant and another step for two riders who have just won national honours at home, moving straight into one of the more testing weeks on the Spanish calendar.
