Watch: Chris Froome announces return to action on UAE Tour

Dubai: Multiple Grand Tour winner Chris Froome announced on Wednesday that he will be back racing at the UAE Tour, the one and only World Tour race in the Middle East, organised by the Dubai Sports Council, the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and Sharjah Sports Council, in partnership with RCS Sport, and scheduled from February 23-29.

Froome announced that he will be at the start of the second edition of the UAE Tour this February, following the crash of June 12 that kept the British rider out of competition for the remainder of 2019.

“I’m really excited about getting back to racing at the UAE Tour. I’ve come off a good block of training in Gran Canaria and look forward to taking the next step in my recovery and getting back to full strength,” said Froome.

Froome’s name and credentials — which include one Giro d’Italia, four Tour de France and two Vuelta a Espan titles — adds to the top-class roster of riders who have already announced their participation. Last year’s UAE Tour runner-up and 2018 UCI Road World Champion Alejandro Valverde, two-time UCI Time Trial World Champion Rohan Dennis, 2019 Giro d’Italia King of the Mountains Giulio Ciccone, and winner of the 2019 Tour of California Tadej Pogacar.

Alongside them are such famous names as the Italian road champion Davide Formolo, Adam Yates, Wout Poels, Ilnur Zakarin, and some of the best sprinters in the world, including Fernando Gaviria, Caleb Ewan; Dylan Groenewegen, Sam Bennett, Pascal Ackermann, Arnaud Démare and Mark Cavendish, who has 30 stage win at the Tour de France, 15 at the Giro, 2011 Road World Champion and winner of the General Classification at the 2015 Dubai Tour.