
When Abu Dhabi was announced as the host for the 2028 Road World Championships, the sprinters of the peloton must have been rubbing their hands together in glee, remembering the pan-flat sprint fest that was the last Middle Eastern World Championships in Qatar in 2016.
Finally, this would be another chance for the fast riders to get their hands on the rainbow jersey again, and surely any parcours in the vicinity of Abu Dhabi would be too flat for the likes of Tadej Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel or Lotte Kopecky. Right?