The Team Sky member, who is a five-time Grand Tour winner, says he still needs to recover fully from last week's event in Colombia.
The seven-stage tour gets underway on Monday.
The race starts in Abu Dhabi before ending in Dubai on March 2.
It is the only UCI World Tour race in the Middle East.
This year's inaugural edition will feature 20 teams from around the world.

Dembele double at Liverpool fires PSG into Champions League semis
Ex-England international Shelvey named Arabian Falcons FC manager
Muzarabani given two-year PSL ban after IPL switch
Draper vows to overcome injury woes after Barcelona exit
Long-time NFL coach Dave McGinnis dies at 74
