Others to watch
Others to watch
Another debutant on the provisional start-list is Britain’s Adam Blythe, who will make his Orica-GreenEDGE bow in Qatar.
It will be Blythe’s first time in the desert since leaving BMC Racing in 2013, but his last Tour of Qatar saw him finish fourth overall for the American team.
The sprinting quality Blythe is up against will make stage success difficult to come by, but it will be an interesting marker of where he is at having stepped back up to the WorldTour.
Another sprinter with a point to prove will be Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis), who will be looking to earn his first victory with his new team and sprint train.
However, former team-mate, French champion Arnaud Demare (FDJ), will hope to prove that FDJ won’t miss Bouhanni this season. Demare bagged a stage win in Qatar last year and will be out to do so again against a strong sprinting line-up.
Fabian Cancellara has, perhaps surprisingly, not got the greatest pedigree in this race but his ability against the clock could bolster a record of just one win – in 2004 – in the race’s history.
One final name to consider is Australian champion Heinrich Haussler (IAM Cycling) who has twice finished second overall.