Alberto Contador adds Abu Dhabi to race program

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Alberto Contador was again an aggressive presence on the climbs (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Alberto Contador now leads the race overall (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

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Alberto Contador and his trusty Trek before he starts his season 2017 at the Ruta del Sol. (Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)

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Alberto Contador rides with the leaders during a climb on stage 1 at Ruta del Sol (Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)

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Alberto Contador ready to start his season 2017 at the Ruta del Sol. (Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)

Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) has added the Abu Dhabi Tour to his early season race program, where he will face riders of the calibre of Fabio Aru (Astana) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar). The race runs through February 23-26.

Contador had initially planned to take part in Paris-Nice as his next event, after the Ruta del Sol, which, prior to Friday’s afternoon’s time trial, the Spanish stage race specialist is currently leading. However, he has now added the four-day Middle Eastern event, running from February 23rd to February 26th to his program in a bid to boost his race program.

Contador raced in the Abu Dhabi Tour last year when it was scheduled on the calendar in autumn, after he had an unexpected late call-up from his former team, Tinkoff. He finished fifth overall.

The Spaniard’s presence further boosts Abu Dhabi’s line-up in the newly promoted WorldTour race, which has Aru, Quintana, Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrein-Merida), Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb), Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) on the provisional start list. André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal), Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) and Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step) headline the sprinters.