ABU DHABI: Reigning Tour de France and six-time Grand Tour winner Chris Froome will headline the inaugural UAE Tour in February.

The UAE Tour, which is the result of a merger between the Dubai Tour and Abu Dhabi Tour, includes seven stages across all seven emirates of the UAE, covers a distance of 1,090 kilometers and an elevation gain of 4,500 meters.

It will be the first time Froome has competed in the emirates, and the Team Sky rider is set to go head-to-head with his Bahrain–Merida rival Vincenzo Nibali, who has won four Grand Tour titles.

Speaking in a video clip at the tour’s unveiling at YasMarina Circuit on Thursday, Froome said: “The UAE Tour would be a fantastic world event, with team time trial and two uphill finishes as well, it will be a nice way to start the season.

“I very much looking forward to that race,” the British rider added.

Other riders confirmed for the event include Dutchman Tom Dumoulin — last year’s Abu Dhabi Tour winner and UCI Road World Champion — and the Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, who was 2018’s most successful rider and this year’s Dubai Tour winner.

In his own video message, Dumoulin said: “It is a very nice race especially at the beginning of the year, and it is good to relax and go through a competitive race, I liked the Abu Dhabi Tour and I think it will be exactly how the UAE Tour will be. I’m really looking forward to it.”