UAE Tour 2027 road closures: how the cycling race affects driving in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the other emirates

The UAE Tour 2027 is two races: UAE Tour Women on 3–6 February and UAE Tour Men on 15–21 February 2027. The 2027 stage routes aren’t published yet. Closures are rolling: on each stage, roads on the route shut for about 10 to 15 minutes as the riders pass, inside an afternoon window of roughly 1pm to 5pm. Plan around that corridor, not the whole day.

We drive between the emirates every day of the race, so we plan Dubai to Abu Dhabi chauffeur trips and local pickups around the stage maps. Here’s how the closures work, and how to keep a flight or a meeting on time around them.

When is the UAE Tour 2027?

The Abu Dhabi Sports Council announced the 2027 dates on 10 September 2026, as reported by WAM. The men’s race is the UAE’s only UCI WorldTour stage race; the women’s race comes first.

Race	2026 (last edition)	2027	2028
UAE Tour Women	5–8 February 2026, 4 stages	3–6 February 2027 (5th edition)	Not announced yet; usually early February
UAE Tour Men	16–22 February 2026, 7 stages	15–21 February 2027 (9th edition)	Not announced yet; usually mid-February

Stage routes, start times and road-closure maps go up on the official UAE Tour site and its women’s race site nearer the start. Each stage page lists a start time, an estimated finish time and the route map.

How do UAE Tour road closures work?

A cycling stage isn’t a marathon. The road isn’t shut all day. Police close each section as the race approaches and reopen it once the riders and the convoy behind them have passed. For the 2026 women’s stage in Abu Dhabi, authorities said each road would be closed for around 10 to 15 minutes.

What that means for a car journey:

• The disruption moves. At 1:15pm it’s near the start; by 4pm it’s 100 km away. Being on the right side of the route at the right time matters more than avoiding a whole area.
• Junctions are the choke points. When the race crosses a motorway junction, traffic on the motorway queues, not just on the race road.
• Stages run in the afternoon. In 2026, the stage starts we checked were at 1:15–1:30pm, with estimated finishes at 4:30–5pm.
• Mountain finishes are different. Summit finishes such as Jebel Hafeet end on a single road up the mountain, so allow for that road being busy with the race and spectators.

Last year’s stages and closures (2026)

These are the 2026 routes and the closures published for them. The 2027 routes will be different, so use them as a guide to scale and timing, not to the exact streets.

UAE Tour Men 2026, from the official stage pages:

Stage	Date	Route
1	Mon 16 Feb	Madinat Zayed Majlis to Liwa Palace, 144 km
2	Tue 17 Feb	Al Hudayriyat Island time trial, 12.2 km
3	Wed 18 Feb	Umm Al Quwain to Jebel Mobrah, 183 km
4	Thu 19 Feb	Fujairah to Fujairah, 182 km
5	Fri 20 Feb	Al Mamzar Park, Dubai, to Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, 166 km
6	Sat 21 Feb	Al Ain Museum to Jebel Hafeet, 168 km
7	Sun 22 Feb	Zayed National Museum, Saadiyat, to Abu Dhabi Breakwater, 149 km

The Dubai stage started at 1:30pm with an estimated finish around 5pm; the final Abu Dhabi stage started at 1:15pm with a finish around 4:30pm.

UAE Tour Women 2026: Al Mirfa to Madinat Zayed (Thu 5 Feb), Dubai Police Academy to Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (Fri 6 Feb), teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi to Abu Dhabi Breakwater (Sat 7 Feb), and Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain to Jebel Hafeet (Sun 8 Feb).

Dubai: Stage 5, Friday 20 February 2026

Gulf News listed the phased closures, each reopening once the race had passed:

About	Roads
1pm	Dubai Islands roads
1:10–1:15pm	Infinity Bridge Road, Infinity Bridge and Al Mina routes
1:25pm	Al Wasl Road (D92) and Al Safa Street (D71) near Sheikh Zayed Road
1:30pm	E44 near Meydan Racecourse
1:50pm	E66, including the E66 and E311 junction
2pm	Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Street (D54)
2:15pm	Arabian Ranches and nearby communities
2:30–2:45pm	Al Qudra Road (D63), the E77 interchange and Al Qudra Cycling Track
3:45–4pm	D63 junctions with E77 and E611; Arabian Ranches roads; D54 junctions with D57 and E66

Gulf News flagged the 1:25pm crossing near Sheikh Zayed Road as the one most likely to delay drivers heading into central Dubai.

Abu Dhabi: UAE Tour Women Stage 3, Saturday 7 February 2026

Temporary closures ran from 1:10pm to 4:30pm, according to ARN News, on a route from Saadiyat and Yas Island through Masdar and Khalifa City, over Mussafah Bridge, past Zayed Sports City, across Al Reem and Al Maryah islands to Qasr Al Hosn and Al Bateen. Each road was closed for around 10 to 15 minutes.

How to plan a car journey on a stage day

1. Check the stage page the week before. Once the 2027 stage maps are up, look at the route and the estimated finish time. If your trip doesn’t touch the corridor between about 1pm and 5pm, carry on as normal.
2. Move flexible trips to the morning. A Dubai to Abu Dhabi run before noon misses every stage we’ve seen. Our Dubai to Abu Dhabi distance and travel time guide shows the best hours anyway.
3. For flights and meetings, give us the time you must arrive. We work back from it and pick a route that crosses the race corridor before the riders do, or after. That’s routine for our dispatchers in February.
4. Inside Abu Dhabi, expect the island to be affected on the city stage. In 2026 the women’s Abu Dhabi stage crossed Mussafah Bridge onto the island, and the men’s final stage looped through Al Reem and Al Maryah. Our chauffeur service in Abu Dhabi plans local pickups around the published map.

Watching a finish

The summit finishes draw crowds. Jebel Hafeet, above Al Ain, has hosted a stage finish in both races, and the drive from Dubai to Al Ain takes 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours (see our Dubai to Al Ain guide). Book the car on hourly hire so it waits for you below the climb; the stage finishes late afternoon and everyone comes down the same road. For a city finish like the Breakwater, a drop-off and pickup away from the barriers is enough.

Same weeks, other events

The women’s race overlaps the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open at Zayed Sports City, and in 2026 the Abu Dhabi stage passed the tennis venue on finals day. The men’s race overlaps the Dubai tennis week; our Dubai Tennis Championships transport guide has that venue. Everything else is in our Dubai events calendar.

Frequently asked questions

When is the UAE Tour 2027?

The UAE Tour Women 2027 runs 3–6 February and the UAE Tour Men 2027 runs 15–21 February, according to the Abu Dhabi Sports Council’s announcement on 10 September 2026. It’s the fifth women’s edition and the ninth men’s edition. The 2028 dates haven’t been announced; both races have been held in February.

What is the route of the UAE Tour 2027?

The 2027 stage routes haven’t been published yet; they appear on the official UAE Tour site before the race. For reference, the 2026 men’s race had seven stages, from Liwa and Al Hudayriyat Island to Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah, Dubai and Al Ain, finishing at Abu Dhabi Breakwater on 22 February.

Which roads are closed for the UAE Tour?

Only the roads on that day’s stage route, and only while the race passes. In 2026 the Dubai stage closed roads from Dubai Islands and Infinity Bridge to Al Wasl Road, Meydan, the E66 and Al Qudra between about 1pm and 4pm. The 2027 closure lists will be announced with each stage.

How long are roads closed for the UAE Tour?

For a typical stage, each road closes for around 10 to 15 minutes and reopens once the riders and their convoy have passed, which is what Abu Dhabi authorities said for the 2026 women’s stage. The full window along a route runs most of the afternoon, so a single crossing point may be closed only briefly, but at an unpredictable moment.

Are roads closed in Abu Dhabi during the UAE Tour?

Yes, on the Abu Dhabi stages. On 7 February 2026 closures ran from 1:10pm to 4:30pm across Saadiyat, Yas Island, Khalifa City, Al Reem, Al Maryah and the city centre, each road for about 10 to 15 minutes. Check the 2027 stage maps and Abu Dhabi Mobility announcements on the day.