UAE Team Emirates’ Yousif Mirza will be hoping to cap off the Holy month of Ramadan with a positive result as he joins teammates at the Tour of Slovenia, which gets underway in Lendava on Wednesday.

Mirza, who was recently recognised by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the UAE’s outstanding sportsmen of the year, will be looking to add to his medal haul and help continue the team’s rich vein of form following recent wins at the Criterium du Dauphine and the GP du Canton d’Argovie.

The 29-year-old completed a hat-trick of medal wins after capturing the continental title in the points race at the Asian Track Cycling Championships in Malaysia in March, as well as the Asian Road Cycling Championship and the Omnium Track Cycling silver medal earlier this year.

Joining the UAE National Champion in Slovenia will be teammates Matteo Bono, Simone Consonni, Kristijan Durasek, Vegard Stake Laengen, Przemyslaw Niemic and Alexandr Riabushenko.

Commenting on the upcoming race, the Khor Fakkan native said: “I’m happy to be racing in Europe; it’s been a few weeks since my last race at the Tour of California so I hope I can be useful to the team.

“The Tour of Slovenia is an interesting competition and our line-up is well balanced so we can aim for good results.”

Sporting Director Bruno Vicino added: “The Tour of Slovenia has undergone some renovations compared to past editions. We will have to be ready to compete on each individual stage, day by day.

“We will be counting on fast riders like Consonni, who could get a couple of chances, whilst Durasek will be aiming to stand out in some of the more challenging stages.

“The rest of the team will be looking to take advantage of any interesting opportunities, especially in the breakaway.”

The 2.1 ranked UCI European Tour race will see riders tackle five stages, spanning a total of 664km.

Wednesday’s opening stage takes riders through the eastern region of Slovenia and is open for the sprinters with just one category four climb featuring at 56km.