Abu Dhabi Tour 2018 route

After the first three editions of the Abu Dhabi Tour were contested over four stages, a fifth has been added for 2018 and organisers have taken advantage by slotting in an individual time trial for the first time.

The immediate focus, however, will be on the sprinters with three pan-flat stages to race as they continue to search for early form and race wins in the deserts.

An out-and-back 189km stage to and from Madinat Zayed – where Mark Cavendish claimed his only victory of last season – is first on the menu.

The second stage is the ‘Yas Island’ stage on the seafront, where Caleb Ewan and Elia Viviani have triumphed before, and that is followed by a short, 133km route that largely takes in Abu Dhabi’s city centre on stage three.

After the sprinters have gone head-to-head, attention will then turn to the 11.8km time trial on stage four – another urban affair – which will tee up the final stage, complete with a summit finish on Jebel Hafeet, for stage five.

The final climb is 10.8km long, and is actually the only climb on the otherwise completely flat five-day route – with gradients into double figures on the steepest sections.

On the other hand, Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin), the man Viviani has replaced at QuickStep, is still looking for his first win of the season for his new team.

The German sprinting star was third on stage three of the Dubai Tour – the closest he has come so far – but will be one to watch as he steps up his season this week.

His compatriot Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) will also be in the mix – the Gorilla won twice at the Tour Down Under – as will Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott), who followed his own Tour Down Under stage win with victory at the Clasica de Almeria.

Other sprinters set for the Abu Dhabi Tour include fit-again Team Sky new boy Kristoffer Halvorsen, who missed the Tour Down Under after a crash on the eve of the race at the People’s Choice Classic, Nikias Arndt (Team Sunweb) and Great Britain’s Dan McLay (EF-Drapac).

Perhaps the most pressure will be on European champion Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates), however, as he represents his team in their home country.

He signed off the Tour of Oman with a stage win to ensure he heads to Abu Dhabi with a first victory for his new team on his palmares already.

Abu Dhabi Tour 2018: GC battle

Onto the GC battle, and if Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) starts his season in top shape it is hard to look past the Giro d’Italia champion for this year’s race.

The world time trial champion can gain time on stage four, and consolidate his lead on Jebel Hefeet on the final day.

Having not yet raced this season, however, much will depend on the unknown that is his early-season form.

Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates), winner on Jebel Hefeet last season, is the defending champion, meanwhile – the Portuguese former world champion has also been crowned national time trial champion twice, proving the extra stage should not hold too many fears for him.

There are stronger time triallists on the start line, however – and not just Dumoulin either – with Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing) and Jonathan Castroviejo (Team Sky) leading their respective teams.

Both have the pace, and climbing ability, to triumph over the weekend, while double British champion Steve Cummings (Dimension Data) could be another in contention.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) goes into the race having already won the Volta a la Cominitat Valenciana, meanwhile, and Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) kicks off his season with his new team, offering another GC option for his Emirati employers.

Aru’s former team, Astana, have already won the Tour of Oman and Miguel Angel Lopez, who was second overall behind team-mate Alexey Lutsenko, is another possible contender.

Finally, last year’s runner-up Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) will look to go one better this time out.

Davies, meanwhile, was 23^rd at his debut WorldTour race, the Tour Down Under, and also competed at the Tour of Oman. The Welshman, in his neo-pro season, will be another looking to impress in the time trial.

The same can be said of Alex Dowsett (Katusha-Alpecin) too, who will form part of Kittel’s sprint train on the first three stages before bidding for success of his own on stage four.

Dowsett’s switch to Katusha-Alpecin will mean a first competitive ride on his new Canyon Speedmax CF SLX set-up – the frame is the same he used at Movistar, but he has traded in SRAM Red eTap shifting and Zipp wheels.

Dan McLay (EF-Drapac) will be targeting sprint success, building on fourth place in his first race for his new team at the start of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.

Finally, Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) will look to impress on Jebel Hafeet as Mitchelton-Scott look for a second consecutive WorldTour stage race win – after Daryl Impey won the Tour Down Under – and James Shaw (Lotto-Soudal) completes the list of British riders.