Sprinting showdown

There is little question who took home the sprinting honours from the UAE’s other major stage race – with Marcel Kittel (QuickStep Floors) winning three stages and the overall title at the Dubai Tour.

With the Dubai Tour not part of the WorldTour, however, his rivals – including Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) – have a chance to hit back in Abu Dhabi, and score some valuable WorldTour points in the process.

Kittel’s sprint train fired to perfection in Dubai, while mechanical misfortune beset Cavendish – a late puncture and a rear derailleur problem hampering two of his sprints.

Jebel Hafeet

Three of the race’s four stages are flat and are unlikely to end in anything other than a bunch gallop, providing the sprint teams shut down any breakaways.

Stage three, however, will decide the general classification with a summit finish on Jebel Hafeet.

An average gradient of eight per cent and a maximum pitch of 11 per cent mean the undulating nine-kilometre climb will offer the perfect platform for a showdown between the likes of Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar).

It is Astana’s Tanel Kangert who rolls out in dossard number one, after victory on the mountain last year, and he and team-mate Fabio Aru will be among the men to watch.

Contador races on the back of narrowly missing out on victory at the Ruta del Sol on his Trek-Segafredo debut – losing out to Alejandro Valverde by a solitary second – while Quintana was victorious in his last outing, at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.

Giro d’Italia champion Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Tour de France runner-up Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) will also be on the startline, while the nature of the course – with just one crucial climb – means Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe) should not be written off.

BMC Racing’s Tejay van Garderen starts his season with the race, meanwhile – the American has a big point to prove this season after being way off the pace at the 2016 Tour de France.

Another man with a point to prove, meanwhile, is Steven Kruijswijk – the Dutchman having been set to win the Giro d’Italia when he crashed and ultimately fell to fourth overall.

Owain Doull makes his second attempt to make his Team Sky debut, meanwhile, after having had his appendix removed while in Australia for the Tour Down Under.

The Welshman is one of four Brits in the Team Sky line-up, alongside Jon Dibben, Tao Geoghegan Hart and Peter Kennaugh.

Irish champion Nicolas Roche will roll out in the green, white and gold jersey for BMC Racing, and finally Stephen Clancy (Team Novo Nordisk) rides at WorldTour level for just the second time in his career.