The Abu Dhabi Tour 2018 start list boasts a star-studded line-up of riders taking to the start line on February 21.

The 2018 race boasts a very strong selection of sprinters, with Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin), Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data), Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott), André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal), Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) and Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) all attracted by a race which features three flat stages over the four days.

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>>> Abu Dhabi Tour 2018: Latest news, reports and race info

There are several Grand Tour big hitters lining up for the event to get their seasons up and running: Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb), Fabio Aru (UAE-Team Emirates), Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) among them.

It is the third stage with a summit finish at Jebel Hafeet that will likely decide the race, with Rui Costa, Tanel Kangert and Esteban Chaves all taking the stage win on the climb to set up their overall victories.

Costa returns as defending champion and will wear the number one for UAE Team Emirates.

The Abu Dhabi Tour is the third UCI WorldTour race of the 2018 season after the Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, both of which took place in Australia.

Abu Dhabi Tour 2018 start list

UAE Team Emirates

1 FARIA DA COSTA Rui Alberto (POR)

2 ARU Fabio (ITA)

3 BYSTRØM Sven Erik (NOR)

4 FERRARI Roberto (ITA)

5 KRISTOFF Alexander (NOR)

6 MORI Manuele (ITA)

7 ULISSI Diego (ITA)

Ag2r La Mondalie

11 COSNEFROY Benoit (FRA)

12 BIDARD François (FRA)

13 CHEVRIER Clement (FRA)

14 FRANK Mathias (SUI)

15 GASTAUER Ben (LUX)

16 GENIEZ Alexandre (FRA)

17 MONTAGUTI Matteo (ITA)

Astana

21 LOPEZ MORENO Miguel Angel (COL)

22 BILBAO LOPEZ DE ARMENTIA P. (ESP)

23 CATALDO Dario (ITA)

24 HANSEN Jesper (DEN)

25 MINALI Riccardo (ITA)

26 VILLELLA Davide (ITA)

27 ZEITS Andrey (KAZ)

Bahrain-Merida

31 POZZOVIVO Domenico (ITA)

32 BONIFAZIO Niccolo (ITA)

33 GASPAROTTO Enrico (ITA)

34 IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI Ion (ESP)

35 MOHORIC Matej (SLO)

36 NAVARDAUSKAS Ramunas (LTU)

37 NOVAK Domen (SLO)

Bardiani-CSF

41 GUARDINI Andrea (ITA)

42 ALBANESE Vincenzo (ITA)

43 BRESCIANI Michael (ITA)

44 CICCONE Giulio (ITA)

45 MAESTRI Mirco (ITA)

46 MARONESE Marco (ITA)

47 SIMION Paolo (ITA)

BMC Racing Team

51 DENNIS Rohan (AUS)

52 BEVIN Patrick (NZL)

53 BOOKWALTER Brent (USA)

54 CARUSO Damiano (ITA)

55 FRANKINY Kilian (SUI)

56 ROSSKOPF Joseph (USA)

57 SCOTSON Miles (AUS)

Bora-Hansgrohe

61 MAJKA Rafal (POL)

62 ACKERMANN Pascal (GER)

63 BASKA Erik (SVK)

64 BUCHMANN Emanuel (GER)

65 FORMOLO Davide (ITA)

66 POLJANSKI Pawel (POL)

67 SAGAN Juraj (SVK)

Gazprom-Rusvelo

71 FIRSANOV Sergey (RUS)

72 ARSLANOV Ildar (RUS)

73 BOEV Igor (RUS)

74 NYCH Artem (RUS)

75 PORSEV Alexander (RUS)

76 SHALUNOV Evgeny (RUS)

77 TRUSOV Nikolay (RUS)

Lotto-Soudal

81 GREIPEL André (GER)

82 ARMEE Sander (BEL)

83 FRISON Frederik (BEL)

84 HANSEN Adam James (AUS)

85 MERTZ Remy (BEL)

86 SHAW James (GBR)

87 SIEBERG Marcel (GER)

Mitchelton-Scott

91 YATES Simon (GBR)

92 EWAN Caleb (AUS)

93 KREUZIGER Roman (CZE)

94 MEZGEC Luka (SLO)

95 KLUGE Roger (GER)

96 TUFT Svein (CAN)

97 BAUER Jack (NZL)

Movistar

101 VALVERDE Alejandro (ESP)

102 BENNATI Daniele (ITA)

103 DE LA PARTE Victor (ESP)

104 PEDRERO Antonio (ESP)

105 ROJAS José (ESP)

106 SÜTTERLIN Jasha (GER)

107 VALLS FERRI Rafael (ESP)

Quick-Step Floors

111 ALAPHILIPPE Julian (FRA)

112 HODEG CHAGUI Alvaro Jose (COL)

113 KNOX James (GBR)

114 MAS NICOLAU Enric (ESP)

115 MORKOV Michael (DEN)

116 SABATINI Fabio (ITA)

117 VIVIANI Elia (ITA)

Dimension Data

121 CAVENDISH Mark (GBR)

122 CUMMINGS Stephen (GBR)

123 DAVIES Scott (GBR)

124 DEBESAY Mekseb (ERI)

125 MORTON Lachlan (AUS)

126 RENSHAW Mark (AUS)

127 VENTER Jaco (RSA)

EF Education First-Drapac

131 ROLLAND Pierre (FRA)

132 CRADDOCK G Lawson (USA)

133 MAGNUSSON Kim (SWE)

134 MCLAY Daniel (GBR)

135 MORENO Daniel (ESP)

136 PHINNEY Taylor (USA)

137 WOODS Michael (CAN)

Katusha-Alpecin

141 KITTEL Marcel (GER)

142 BELKOV Maxim (RUS)

143 DOWSETT Alex (GBR)

144 HALLER Marco (AUT)

145 KOCHETKOV Pavel (RUS)

146 ZABEL Rick (GER)

147 ZAKARIN Ilnur (RUS)

LottoNL-Jumbo

151 VAN EMDEN Jos (NED)

152 EENKHOORN Pascal (NED)

153 POWLESS Neilson (USA)

154 TOLHOEK Antwan (NED)

155 VAN HOECKE Gijs (BEL)

156 VAN POPPEL Danny (NED)

157 WAGNER Robert Thomas (GER)

Novo Nordisk

161 PERON Andrea (ITA)

162 BRAND Sam (GBR)

163 GIOUX Romain (FRA)

164 HENTTALA Joonas (FIN)

165 LOZANO RIBA David (ESP)

166 PLANET Charles (FRA)

167 VAN IJZENDOORN Hendrikus (NED)

Team Sky

171 CASTROVIEJO Jonathan (ESP)

172 BASSO Leonardo (ITA)

173 HALVORSEN Kristoffer (NOR)

174 GEOGHEGAN HART Tao (GBR)

175 HENAO GOMEZ Sebastian (COL)

176 LOPEZ GARCIA David (ESP)

177 ROWE Luke (GBR)

Team Sunweb

181 DUMOULIN Tom (NED)

182 ARNDT Nikias (GER)

183 BAUHAUS Phil (GER)

184 FRÖHLINGER Johannes (GER)

185 HOFSTEDE Lennard (NED)

186 KELDERMAN Wilco (NED)

187 TEUNISSEN Mike (NED)

Trek-Segafredo

191 BRAMBILLA Gianluca (ITA)

192 BRÄNDLE Matthias (AUT)

193 EG Niklas (DEN)

194 FRAME Alex (NZL)

195 GOGL Michael (AUT)

196 GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam (ETH)

197 SKUJINS Toms (LAT)