Today, the Velon group of WorldTour teams and the Abu Dhabi Sports Council (ADSC) have announced an historic partnership to support the ADSC in the magnificent new race, the Abu Dhabi Tour and the newly created UCI Cycling Gala awards ceremony.

The agreement is the first collective race deal of its kind in cycling and a significant step change for the economics of the sport. It sees the ADSC and Velon working together to deliver value: Velon committing some of its best teams and their top riders to race for three years (2015-2017), together with marketing and technology support to enhance and promote the race and its #RideToAbuDhabi campaign. ADSC and Velon will work together under a revenue sharing model with a joint interest in developing the race. Under the partnership Velon will continue to bring new technology and innovation to the heart of the fan experience with on-bike and behind the scenes footage at the 2015 edition and, with ADSC’s support, further innovations in future years. 

Velon CEO Graham Bartlett said: “This is a new race with big plans and Velon is delighted to be part of it. We’ve partnered with other race organisers in the past but this agreement is wider ranging then anything before. Our shareholders formed Velon for it to make these kind of partnerships.”

Mr. Aref Hamad Al Awani, General Secretary of Abu Dhabi Sports Council, said: “This partnership confirms our strategy and ambitions: a great race needs great characters and working with Velon guarantees their presence. Moreover, this WorldTour teams venture is clearly showing its focus on innovation and it’s exactly what we want: the Abu Dhabi Tour looks to the future and we’re proud to collaborate on the technological development of cycling.”