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Chris Froome skips UAE Tour to recover from Colombia

By Cycling News

published 20 February 2019

Kwiatkowski and Moscon to co-lead Team Sky

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Chris Froome (Team Sky) ahead of the final stage at Tour Colombia(Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Chris Froome (Team Sky)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Chris Froome (Team Sky) warming up for the TTT(Image credit: Maximiliano Blanco/Getty Images)

Chris Froome will not compete in the upcoming UAE Tour as originally planned, citing the need to recover from his recent participation at the Tour Colombia 2.1. Team Sky made the announcement Wednesday.

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"I'm disappointed to miss UAE Tour, but I need to recover fully from Colombia, instead of going straight into such a big WorldTour race." Froome said in the team statement. "I wish the boys all the best for what I’m sure will be a great event."

Froome's decision to not start the UAE Tour comes as a surprise. Organisers of the race announced in December that he would participate in the newly formed event, which combines the former Dubai and Abu Dhabi tours. In addition, Froome confirmed that he would participate in the UAE Tour in a post last week on Twitter during the Tour Colombia, where he finished 97th overall.

Team Sky released the final roster that will see Michal Kwiatkowski and Gianni Moscon, who were already on start list, co-lead the team for the UAE Tour held from February 25 to March 2.

"It’s the first race for Gianni and Michal this season and after some good winter training, they will be able to gauge where they are at against the rest of the field," said Team Sky director Dario Cioni, who pointed to the team time trial and the stage 3 summit finish as being decisive parts of the seven-day race.

Kenny Elissonde will take the place of Froome on the seven-rider roster alongside Kwaitkowksi, Moscon, Michal Golas, Kristoffer Halvorsen, Salvatore Puccio and Pavel Sivakov.