- the fourth edition of thedubai tour got underway today, with the riders rolling out from the dubai international marine club. ahead of them lay 181 almostentirely flat kilometres, looping out into thedesert before heading back
Dubai International Marine Club, to the coast and finishingon the palm jumeirah. the dubai tour is theseason opener for much of the peloton, and therewere clearly several pairs of restless legs looking toshake off a winter of training.
a break formed literallyas the flag dropped at kilometre zero, butit wasn't until several k's later that five riders forged clear, keen to establish a timegap early on in the stage. there were nicola boem from bardiani, silvan dillier of bmc, matteo bono of uae abu-dhabi, daniel pearson of aquablue sports and tom stewart of one pro cycling.
under the impetus of the sprinters teams, it was soon lined out behindand across the desert highways. at the first intermediate sprint, boem narrowly got tom stewart on the line and after that close call for stewart we see that these sprints weregoing to be hotly contested. and it's no surprise really as both the red jersey forintermediate sprints and also time bonuses ongeneral classification
were up for grabs. sprint number two was moreof a formality for boem, with stewart and matteobono crossing the line in second and third. meanwhile back in the bunch, it was definitely business time as determined riders set about starting to reel a breakaway in. sprint number three was take by dillier
with tom stewart a close second, clearly not quite his day today. and boem was seemingly happy with third. and with those intermediatesprints done and dusted, boem sat up, saving hislegs for another day, and knowing the general classification is possibly up for grabs. with the dubai skyline in sight and the palm jumerirahalmost within reach,
the bunch finally made thecatch at 10 kilometres to go. some of the biggestsprint names in the sport were lining up behindto stretch their legs. elia viviani, sachamodolo, john degenkolb, mark cavendish and marcelkittel were all in the mix. riccardo minnali ofastana opened it up early, but the power of marcelkittel and the might of his quick-step team made it look effortless. dylan groenewegen oflottonl-jumbo took second,
and mark cavendesh ofdimension data was third. mark cavendesh, meanwhile,finished on a flat tyre, making his third place quite remarkable in the circumstances. marcel kittel takes theblue leaders jersey, but nicola boem made themost of his intermediate sprint success with time bonuses that leave him second overall. join us again tomorrow forhighlights of the 186 kilometres
from dubai to ras al khaimah. and in the meantime, make sureyou have subscribed to gcn but if you want more content now why not click on either the"best team kits of 2017" or the "team bikes of 2017", just to make sure your racing knowledge is up to scratch this season.
- the fourth edition of thedubai tour got underway today, with the riders rolling out from the dubai international marine club. ahead of them lay 181 almostentirely flat kilometres, looping out into thedesert before heading back
Dubai International Marine Club, to the coast and finishingon the palm jumeirah. the dubai tour is theseason opener for much of the peloton, and therewere clearly several pairs of restless legs looking toshake off a winter of training.
a break formed literallyas the flag dropped at kilometre zero, butit wasn't until several k's later that five riders forged clear, keen to establish a timegap early on in the stage. there were nicola boem from bardiani, silvan dillier of bmc, matteo bono of uae abu-dhabi, daniel pearson of aquablue sports and tom stewart of one pro cycling.
under the impetus of the sprinters teams, it was soon lined out behindand across the desert highways. at the first intermediate sprint, boem narrowly got tom stewart on the line and after that close call for stewart we see that these sprints weregoing to be hotly contested. and it's no surprise really as both the red jersey forintermediate sprints and also time bonuses ongeneral classification
were up for grabs. sprint number two was moreof a formality for boem, with stewart and matteobono crossing the line in second and third. meanwhile back in the bunch, it was definitely business time as determined riders set about starting to reel a breakaway in. sprint number three was take by dillier
with tom stewart a close second, clearly not quite his day today. and boem was seemingly happy with third. and with those intermediatesprints done and dusted, boem sat up, saving hislegs for another day, and knowing the general classification is possibly up for grabs. with the dubai skyline in sight and the palm jumerirahalmost within reach,
the bunch finally made thecatch at 10 kilometres to go. some of the biggestsprint names in the sport were lining up behindto stretch their legs. elia viviani, sachamodolo, john degenkolb, mark cavendish and marcelkittel were all in the mix. riccardo minnali ofastana opened it up early, but the power of marcelkittel and the might of his quick-step team made it look effortless. dylan groenewegen oflottonl-jumbo took second,
and mark cavendesh ofdimension data was third. mark cavendesh, meanwhile,finished on a flat tyre, making his third place quite remarkable in the circumstances. marcel kittel takes theblue leaders jersey, but nicola boem made themost of his intermediate sprint success with time bonuses that leave him second overall. join us again tomorrow forhighlights of the 186 kilometres
from dubai to ras al khaimah. and in the meantime, make sureyou have subscribed to gcn but if you want more content now why not click on either the"best team kits of 2017" or the "team bikes of 2017", just to make sure your racing knowledge is up to scratch this season.