Dimension Data will be banking on Briton Mark Cavendish and Eritrean Amanuel Ghebrezgabihier for results at the inaugural UAE Tour, which starts on Sunday.
Following what was a relatively successful campaign in Australia, which saw South African Ryan Gibbons produce several top-10 results, the team announced in a statement that they would look to improve on their WorldTour ranking.
DiData’s Amanuel Ghebrezgabihier (front) will target the team’s GC ambitions at the UAE Tour. Photo: Stiehl Photography
After displaying some fine form last year, the team plan to play their cards with Gebrezgabihier for their general classification ambitions, while keeping South African Louis Meintjes and Czech Roman Kreuziger as back-up options.
“I look forward to starting the season in UAE. For me, coming from the off-season in Eritrea, the UAE Tour is a good race to start and has nice weather,” Ghebrezgabihier said.
“The route looks very nice and many of the top riders in the world are now coming to the UAE, so it will be a hard race.
“I look forward to riding with Cav [Cavendish] and Louis and all the [other] guys again; we can have a good week together.”
Cavendish, who made his return in an Argentinean tour earlier this month after an injury lay-off, will be targeting the three sprint stages in the UAE showpiece.
The tour this year amalgamated the Dubai and Abu Dhabi Tours into one event, making it the race’s first edition.
