The 2017 Abu Dhabi Tour will again include the mountain finish at Jebel Hafeet, with Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale), Tejay Van Garderen (BMC), Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) and Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) confirmed for the Middle East’s only WorldTour race between February 23-26.
The Abu Dhabi Tour is one of 10 new WorldTour races on the 2017 calendar and has managed to attract 16 WorldTour team. The race ended the 2016 season last October but a new February date has attracted some of the biggest names in the peloton. Race organisers have also invited four non-WorldTour teams: Bardiani-CSF, Gazprom-Rusvelo, Team Novo Nordisk and Nippo-Vini Fantini.
The race's two previous editions were held at the end of the year, with Orica's Esteban Chaves winning in 2015 and Tanel Kangert (Astana) taking out last year's overall.
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This year, contenders will include Steven Kruiswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo), Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb), Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) and Fabio Aru (Astana), making the Abu Dhabi Tour an early-season show down for many of the Giro d’Italia contenders.
The four days of racing include three flat stages, with the finish on Jebel Hafeet coming on stage three.
The opening stage will follow its now traditional route, starting and finishing in Madinat Zayed, and running entirely through the desert with a visit to the sand dunes. Stage 2 is a tour of the capital and visits the Corniche, the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum, Al Reem Island, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Old Al Bahia and Al Sadar. The probable bunch sprint will take place on Al Marina, close to the Big Flag.
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