The newly-formed UCI 2.1-ranked stage race will field 10 WorldTour teams against five professional continental squads and selected others, including the British-based Team Wiggins. In total, 18 squads will take part.
Vuelta a España winner Aru lines up with 2014 Tour de France victor Nibali for a strong Astana team. They will be reacquainted with Vuelta rivals Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), Valverde (Movistar) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha).
Making one of his last appearances for Team Sky is Richie Porte - the Australian is changing teams to BMC for 2016.
Vuelta rivals Fabio Aru and Tom Dumoulin will be back in action at the Abu Dhabi Tour (Watson)
(Image credit: Watson)
Three of the race's four stages are designated for sprinters, and bunch gallops will be likely contested by Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep), Kittel (Giant-Alpecin), Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo), Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge) and Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing).
Stage three of the race is likely to be the most decisive for the general classification, with the 11km climb of Jebel Hafeet featuring in the finale of the 140km stage.
For many riders this will be their last competitive outing of the season given its position in the calendar after the 2015 World Championships and the final WorldTour race, Il Lombardia (October 4).
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Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
