Nicolas Roche is included in seven-man BMC Racing Team squad for the Dubai Tour (2.HC) which starts tomorrow and it will be the Irish rider’s first race of the season.
The race starts with a 167-kilometre stage from Skydive Dubai to Palm Jumeirah, with the remaining stages also all starting at Skydive Dubai. Four out of the five stages can be expected to be decided by sprint finishes with just Friday’s fourth stage suiting climbers.
The summit finish to Hatta Dam is just over one kilometre long but has a maximum gradient of 17% towards the top and should be where the GC is decided. Last year’s stage to Hatta Dam was cancelled due to high winds and the overall win went to Marcel Kittel.
Roche can be expected to challenge for the overall win with multiple Grand Tour winner Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) also expected to be in contention. The Italian is also lining up in his first race of the season after having to withdraw from the Vuelta a San Juan Internacional prior to the start of the race.
Roche has performed well in the Middle East in the past, having finished second overall at the Abu Dhabi Tour in 2016. He also finished last season strongly, placing third overall at WorldTour race, the Gree – Tour of Guangxi.
Lining up alongside Roche on the BMC team are Tom Bohli, Jean-Pierre Drucker, Dylan Teuns, Nathan Van Hooydonck, Francisco Ventoso and Loïc Vliegen.
