The UCI, the governing body of world cycling, has confirmed that the Abu Dhabi Tour will be returning for a second edition this October and will once again be the season-closer.

The Abu Dhabi Tour, which made it’s debut last year as a 2.1 four-day stage race on the UCI Asia Tour, has also been upgraded to 2.HC.

The event will be staged from October 20-23, 2016, just under two weeks later than last year’s edition which saw excessively hot temperatures affect spectator numbers.

The tour is jointly organised by Abu Dhabi Sports Council and RCS Sport, the Italian company that also runs the Giro d’Italia and Dubai Tour.

Last year’s race was won by Colombian Esteban Chaves of Orica-GreenEDGE, who was crowned champion at Yas Marina Circuit.