As professional-level racing resumes in earnest, the UAE Tour is facing controversy as some stages are considered too easy, leading to riders completing the race with less exertion than training. In particular, stage 2 of the women's UAE Tour has been criticized for being ridiculously easy.
In this stage, rider Malene Degn mentioned an average power output of under 100W, a figure considered very low by those who have used power meters. Strava records from other professional riders also show average power outputs of 93W, 105W, 111W, and even 78W, further supporting the notion that the stage's difficulty was excessively low.
This phenomenon is attributed to the UAE's wide roads with good surface conditions, minimal gradients, and lack of wind. Group riding can make it feel even easier, and even a GCN presenter remarked that they could have kept up with this stage.
There are also criticisms that races with overly low difficulty do not contribute to riders' condition improvement and can lead to boredom. In particular, concerns have been raised that if a day in the women's race, which is only four days long, consists of an excessively easy stage, the overall training load could be reduced.
(Excerpt from GCN YouTube)
