Luke Rowe to return in Abu Dhabi six months after breaking leg

Luke Rowe will return to competitive racing for Team Sky six months after breaking his leg on his brother’s stag do.

The 27-year-old Welshman, who was road captain for Chris Froome’s fourth Tour de France win last year, will line up at the Abu Dhabi Tour which starts on Wednesday.

Rowe has not raced since crossing the finishing line on the Champs Elysees in July, when he finished with the slowest time of all those who completed the Tour de France to be presented with the lanterne rouge.

The following month he went to the Czech Republic for his brother’s stag do and on the first morning broke his leg while jumping into the water when he was white water rafting.

Rowe, who was present for Team Sky’s camps in Mallorca over the winter, admitted he did not expect to be back racing this early in the season.

“Even at Christmas and going into the new year, I still thought that the middle of the season was realistic (for a return),” he said.

“When I got back on the bike properly, though, I realised I probably wasn’t as unfit as I thought. I managed to suffer through it a bit at first and I got my head kicked in a few times, but the fitness and strength built up quite quickly.

“On training camp in January I felt good and I went to the team and said that I wanted to do Abu Dhabi. It’s all been a bit of a whirlwind, really.

“It’s a perfect race for me to come back. The sprints will be hectic for sure, but the roads are bigger and it’s pretty flat so it’s slightly less stressful.”