Rui Costa continues flying start to 2017 with Abu Dhabi Tour title

Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) is back. The former world champion never really went away, but it’s fair to say that he lost his winning touch since pulling on the rainbow stripes. He won four races in the three seasons that followed Florence in 2013 – with none last year – but he has now almost matched that tally in the space of two months with a blistering start to the 2017 campaign.

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Patrick Fletcher

Patrick is an NCTJ-trained journalist, and former deputy editor of Cyclingnews, who has seven years’ experience covering professional cycling. He has a modern languages degree from Durham University and has been able to put it to some use in what is a multi-lingual sport, with a particular focus on French and Spanish-speaking riders. Away from cycling, Patrick spends most of his time playing or watching other forms of sport - football, tennis, trail running, darts, to name a few, but he draws the line at rugby.