The Abu Dhabi Tour marks the conclusion of the 2017 road season for Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka. Coming off a strong performance at the World Championships in Qatar, Mark Cavendish will spearhead the African team at the 4-day UCI 2.HC event.

The Abu Dhabi Tour will get underway on Thursday and there are 3 flat stages that should suit the African team well. Starting from Madinat Zayed the peloton will head out into the desert, before the course makes a U-turn and heads back to the finish after 147km of racing. Stage 2 will see a similar flat profile, however the peloton will not leave the city streets of Abu Dhabi. Similarly, to day one, the stage will also take place on wide roads and so should suit the fast guys of the peloton once again, when it concludes after 115km in Al Marina. Stage 3, starting in Al Ain, will most likely be the decisive one for the overall as the final 10km of the stage is all uphill, taking riders to the summit of the 1025m high Jebel Hafeet. The Abu Dhabi Tour will then end on day 4 with a flat 143km long stage on the Yas Marina Circuit.

Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka will be represented by Mark Cavendish, Mekseb Debesay, Bernhard Eisel, Youcef Reguigui, Mark Renshaw, and Jay Thomson and will seek its chances to add to the team's 2017 tally of 30 race wins.

Head of Peformance Rolf Aldag said:

"We came to Abu Dhabi with a team that can do well on the three flat stages of this race. We're really focussed on the sprints here. I think we have a chance to do well in these. What makes it difficult is, that with only 6 riders per team it's hard to control the race. So, we'll see how the stages pan out. We want to finish the season on a high note."