$1 MILLION PRIZE OFFERED BY NEW MIDDLE EAST RACE

Organisers of a new end of season race in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates hope to attract the biggest names in the peloton to their race by offering a first prize of $1 million dollars.

The three-day race will be held in the United Arab Emirates on November 2,3 and 5 as an end of season race for riders and their families. The three stages will consist of a 90 km flat stage, a 90 km mountain stage and a 20k individual time trial. The mountain stage will climb the 4000ft high Jebel Hafeet mountain overlooking Al Ain. The final time trial will start in the hall of the exclusive Emirate Palace Hotel where the best rooms cost £12000 a night and include use of a Rolls Royce.

The overall race winner will collect $1 million, with only $60,000 for second and $30,000 for third place. Organisers hope to have the winners of the Giro d?Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta in the race. There will also be a team from the UAE but only a total of 72 riders.

The event will be organised by the Tour of Spain organizers Unipublic and the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority.

"The idea is that this event will be a festival to celebrate the end of the cycling season, with the best cyclists in the world. We want to globalise cycling. This is a sporting event but an important part of the event is publicity for cycling and Abu Dhabi,? Unipublic sports director Victor Cordero said at a presentation in Madrid.