Team Sky faces fine for reduced Abu Dhabi Tour roster
British WorldTour squad Team Sky started the Abu Dhabi Tour on Thursday with six instead of eight riders, and could face a financial penalty


The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for signing up to The Pick. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Team Sky faces a possible €10,000 fine for not bring a full eight-man roster the Abu Dhabi Tour, which is a new WorldTour event for 2017.
The team began the Abu Dhabi Tour with only six riders instead of the required eight. The team always planned to start with a seven-man roster, but came with six when Ian Boswell developed the shingles virus.
"It's WorldTour and you do get a little bit of a fine when a rider doesn't start, it's about 5000 per rider," Sky Sports Director Brett Lancaster told Cycling Weekly.
"We might have many riders, but if one is sick and one is injured, we just don't have the riders to put in if we want to do a perfect programme leading up to the big races.
"This is modern cycling, you have all these guys in altitude camps preparing for the Giro and Tour.”
Sky's team is scattered around the world at the moment, with Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas training for the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, respectively, in South Africa and others in Colombia. Ian Stannard and Luke Rowe will lead the charge on Saturday in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, which also moves up to the WorldTour in 2017.
>>> Geraint Thomas: ‘It’s just me and Froomey, there’s no better guy to chase around’
The team has much bigger goals in the season to interrupt its plans and pull Froome, Thomas or the classics men into its Abu Dhabi Tour team.
The stars are shining brightly in the Middle Eastern race, however. On the start line today for the first of four stages were Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale), Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb), Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo), Fabio Aru (Astana), Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) and many others.
"The Belgian races are this weekend [Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne]. Then many are at altitude, Froome and Thomas in South Africa," added Lancaster.
"He's in South Africa now getting a bit altitude block. It's always his plan, you can't change that. Henao is at the Colombian championships and is back for that.
"I'd be nice to have some of the classics guys here around Elia Viviani, a Luke Rowe or an Ian Stannard would be ideal here, but that's just the way it is."
Boswell told Cycling Weekly that he contracted shingles after the Dubai Tour. He was also sick in the Volta ao Algarve.
"It's a weakened immune system and a bit random, but it can happen to anyone," Boswell said. "I hope to be back for Strade Bianche."
>>> Chris Froome: ‘Ian Stannard is an absolute beast!’
Organiser RCS Sport may be upset and the UCI may issue a fine for the team not respecting its new WorldTour race, but Sky still has ambitions in the three sprint stages and for the overall.
Wout Poels placed second in this race behind Esteban Chaves in 2015. He is not here this year, but new French recruit Kenny Elissonde will take the classification leadership role.
Italian Viviani will aim for his first win of 2017 in the three sprints. He is building for the Milan-San Remo in March.
"Kenny's been training for these longer power thresholds a bit more, and this climb is around 20 minutes on stage three. We will give him all we can to support him," Lancaster continued.
"We have Elia, he's here to win. I'd like to have more guys for the lead-out, but we have Jon Dibben and Owain Doull, who just had his appendix problem though. It's his first race back and we don't expect much from him. However, Elia is good to jump around and works well in the wheels."
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
-
-
‘A gateway of just how far their dreams and a bike can take them’ - Los Angeles’ first-ever pump track is now open
Los Angeles’ first-ever pump track opened to the public on Friday, September 22, after two years of construction.
By Kristin Jenny Published
-
UK cycle tech falls by a third, with bikes sales also struggling, says industry report
The cycle industry continues to face challenges, with tech in freefall and even ebikes lagging behind the rest of Europe
By James Shrubsall Published
-
'I thought I was more in the door than I was' - Luke Rowe bares all on Vuelta a España snub
Welshman will not race a Grand Tour this year after he missed out on selection by Ineos Grenadiers
By Tom Davidson Published
-
‘I hope I get a cow’ - Josh Tarling aiming for the top prize at World Championships
Welshman competing in elite men’s individual time trial on Friday afternoon
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
'All being well I’ll still be racing next year' but 'it's coming to an end' - Geraint Thomas on Ineos Grenadiers future
'It's nice to be arriving at a Worlds in decent nick' says the Welshman ahead of individual time trial in Stirling
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Carlos Rodriguez credits BMX skills with Tour de France stage win
Ineos Grenadiers rider dedicates his victory to his parents
By Vern Pitt Published
-
'We just have to keep trying': Ineos Grenadiers ready to attack at the Tour de France
'You never know' British team's DS Steve Cummings says anything is still possible at French Grand Tour
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Disappointed on stage one, pleased with stage two: Tom Pidcock gaining confidence at Tour de France
Ineos Grenadiers rider satisfied with performance on the road to San Sebastián after difficult opening stage
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Tom Pidcock: Beating the likes of Pogačar and Vingegaard to a Tour de France stage would be ‘a step up’
Ineos Grenadiers rider heads into second Tour aiming for general classification and stage wins
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Egan Bernal heads back to Tour de France 'ambitious' but 'realistic'
The 2019 winner is targeting general classification at his first Tour since life-threatening accident
By Adam Becket Published