The starting grid of the Yas Marina Formula 1 track flies underneath my wheels. Adverts for Steve Harvey’s Open Fire Food Festival and a forthcoming Coldplay concert appear on the grandstand’s electronic hoardings beside me and recede into the Abu Dhabi evening. The dome-like roof of the circuit’s adjacent five-star hotel, which has 5,000 LED lights that change colour, sparkles in the distance.
It feels like I’m riding in an esports virtual world, but this is all real. Twice a week, the flat 5.2km circuit is open and free to everyone, a tiny part of the United Arab Emirates’ investment in cycling infrastructure – and there are some fast riders among the hundreds pedalling tonight.
A paceline of twenty teenagers from the Abu Dhabi Cycling Club shoots past me. I jump onto their wheels. After a few minutes, I move up and smile at the adolescent with a pubescent moustache, edging ahead of him in a little drag race. He smiles back.
Middle Eastern influence in global sport is rising as fast as their youngsters are riding. As several oil-rich countries look to wean themselves off their climate-hurting source of wealth, sport has become big business. In football, Premier League winners Manchester City have been majority owned by Sheikh Mansour, the UAE royal and vice-president, since 2008, while Newcastle United is backed by Saudi Arabia’s PIF Wealth Fund. Saudi Arabia
