Dubai: There couldn’t have been a more spectacular start to the Dubai Tour on Wednesday — a showdown in sprints between Marcel Kittel and Mark Cavendish.
Both riders, known for their sprinting prowess, were involved in the first sprint-off at the picturesque city of Fujairah, framed by the Indian Ocean to the east and the Hajar mountains to the west, in the Dubai Silicon Oasis Stage One.
German Kittel got the better of the last year’s overall winner Cavendish in the dash to the tape to complete the 173km race in 3:35.26 seconds.
With an authoritative win, Kittel has given enough evidence that he is back at the helm of affairs. He has taken an early edge over Cavendish, who parted ways with the former’s team Etixx-Quick-Step to join Dimension Data.
Italian Giacomo Nizzolo of Trek-Segafredo was third at another six seconds behind. Ten, six and four bonus seconds were awarded to the first three riders over the line.
Moroccan Soufiane Haddi provided lots to cheer for the home crowd and the Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team as he came fourth overall. He will be donning both the White jersey for being the best young rider and the UAE flag jersey for winning the intermediate sprint jersey classification.
Haddi claimed the first intermediate Sprint after 38.6km ahead of Belgian Loic Vliegen of BMC, Spaniard Marc Soler of Movistar Team and Dane Martin Mortensen of One Pro Cycling.
The other two escapes for the day, Charles Planet of Novo Nordisk and Jesus Alberto Rubio of Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team Dubai, were 25 seconds adrift while the peloton led by Etixx-Quick-Step were 2 minutes 39 seconds behind.
These six escapes kept working in front for most of the race, though it looked like they would be caught before the second intermediate sprint after the first passage at Fujairah after 162km.
However, Haddi once again showed that he had enough steam left in him to clinch the second spirit as well.
Almost immediately after that the break, the team was caught and Team Wiggins was at the front of the peloton with 10km to go. Wiggins led his young teammates after staying at the back for most of the race but with four kilometres remaining, Philippe Gilbert of BMC pressed ahead and Movistar, Astana, Dimension Data and Etixx-Quick-Step followed.
When Kittel made his move, it looked like he had stepped up the pace a bit early in the finale. However, the German showed he was too powerful for the charging Cavendish, who couldn’t make amends and had to be content with second place.
The 188km Nakheel Stage Two today will comprise of two distinct parts: One just outside the metropolis, partially in the desert, and the second within Dubai Marina. It will end in Palm Jumeirah, in front of the Atlantis.
The riders will pass next to the Camel Track, the Al Qudra bike path, the Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Sports Complex pool and ride through the desert.
They turn towards the city touching Dubailand, the Jumeirah Golf Estates and Dubai Sports City. They will head for the Palm through the underwater tunnel before heading for the final 3km sprint.
Results
(First stage)
1. Marcel Kittel (ETIXX — QUICK STEP) 173km in 3h35’21”, average speed 48.200km/h
2. Mark Cavendish (DIMENSION DATA) s.t.
3. Giacomo Nizzolo (TREK — SEGAFREDO) s.t.
Jerseys
Blue Jersey (General individual classification by time) — Marcel Kittel (ETIXX — QUICK STEP)
The Red Jersey (General individual classification by points) — Marcel Kittel (ETIXX — QUICK STEP)
The White Jersey (Best Young Rider): Soufiane Haddi (Skydive Dubai PRO Cycling Team — Al Ahli Club)
The UAE Flag Jersey (Intermediate Sprint Jersey Classification) — Soufiane Haddi (Skydive Dubai PRO Cycling Team — Al Ahli Club)
General Classification
1. Marcel Kittel (ETIXX _ QUICK STEP)
2. Mark Cavendish (DIMENSION DATA) at 4”
3. Giacomo Nizzolo (TREK — SEGAFREDO) at 6”
