Dubai: It is ‘Advantage Marcel Kittel’ following the cancellation of Stage Four of the 2017 Dubai Tour on Friday.
Going into the fifth and final stage on Saturday, Kittel will be in prime position to successfully defend the title he won at the same time last year. His closest challenger, John Degenkolb — who had thrown the race wide open after winning Stage 3 on Thursday — can still go for the overall classification crown on Saturday, provided Trek-Segafredo’s German rider wins the final stage and his fellow German Kittel fails to finish outside the points.
Stage four had been originally scheduled to be held between race headquarters DIMC (Dubai International Marine Club) and the scenic Hatta Dam. But with adverse weather taking over, the route had to be altered late on Thursday for a two-loop stage totalling 109km around the Hatta settlement.
However, with weather playing havoc with wind gusts going past 80km/h and rain in some places, the stage had to be finally called off following a hastily convened meeting between the race committee and teams at the Hatta Sports Club.
“Safety is always a huge priority for us in Dubai and that is the main reason why we jointly took a decision to cancel Stage Four. We had our experience of foul weather after the third stage in Al Aqah [on Thursday] where riders had to endure windy and dusty conditions that eventually led to at least four crashes along the route. We did not want a repeat of this and hence we thought the best thing would be to call off the stage in the interests of the teams and the riders,” Saeed Hareb, Chairman of the Race Committee and General Secretary, Dubai Sports Council (DSC), told Gulf News.
“We had Hatta as part of the Dubai Tour three years ago [2014] and this year too everyone had been looking forward to a stunning stage that would have in fact set the tone to decide the ultimate champion this year,” he added.
The cancelled stage ensured no changes in the standings with Kittel keeping the overall leader’s blue jersey and the points classification red jersey ahead of Team Lotto NL-Jumbo’s Dylan Groenewegen and Trek-Segafredo’s John Degenkolb respectively.
Lorenzo Giorgetti, CEO, RCS Sports, said the race committee will try and make amends for this last-minute cancellation. “Cycling is a team sport and having strong wind conditions can have the high risk of riders going against each other thus compromising on safety. I am very sorry for Hatta as they had put in a lot of effort in the organisation. But next year we will have to do something special to compensate Hatta,” Giorgetti said.
The fifth and final stage will start off at race headquarters at the DIMC and proceed over 124km through the old parts of Dubai including Deira and Bur Dubai before its conclusion at the City Walk with the iconic Burj Khalifa as the backdrop.
Positions after Stage Four:
General Classification (Blue Jersey sponsored by Commercial Bank of Dubai for general individual classification by time): 1. Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors); 2. Dylan Groenewegen (Team Lotto NL-Jumbo); 3. John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo); 4. Nicola Boem (Bardiani CSF); 5. Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC Racing Team).
Points Classification (Red Jersey sponsored by Emirates for general individual classification by points): 1. Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) 50 pts; 2. John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) 41; 3. Dylan Groenewegen (Team Lotto NL-Jumbo) 35; 4. Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC Racing Team) 19; 5. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Team Dimension Data) 16.
Best Young Riders (White Jersey sponsored by Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) for best young rider born after January 1, 1992): 1. Dylan Groenewegen (Team Lotto NL-Jumbo); 2. Jakub Mareczko (Wilier Tristina); 3. Loic Vliegen (BMC Racing Team); 4. Riccardo Minali (Astana Pro Team); 5. Paolo Simion (Bardiani CSF).
Intermediate Sprints (UAE Flag Jersey sponsored by Dubai Health Authority (DHA) for intermediate sprint jersey classification): 1. Nicola Boem (Bardiani CSF) 12 pts; 2. Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC Racing Team) 10; 3. Alex Dowsett 10; 4. Thomas Stewart (One Pro Cycling) 9; 5. Silvan Dillier (BMC Racing Team) 8.
