Dubai: Riding in his first World tour race, Mathias Vacek (Gazprom-RusVelo) won stage six of the UAE Tour after the peloton failed to bring back the day’s breakaway.
The 180km stage started at the Dubai Expo 2020 before visiting the Atlantis island then looped through the city before finishing back at the Expo site.
Quickest during the sprint
It was a surprise result but Vacek and Gazprom-RusVelo deserved it. The 19-year-old Czech rider was one of three Gazprom in a six-man breakaway, and he proved the quickest during the sprint where he got the better of Paul Lapeira (Ag2r Citroen) who finished second, with his teammate Dmitry Strakhov in third.
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) won the bunch sprint ahead of Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange-Jayco) for sixth place 15 seconds behind, with Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) nestled safely in the group to defend his overall lead.
He holds a four-second advantage over Ineos rider Filippo Ganna as the riders head to tomorrow's final stage, a 148-kilometre ride which ends with the 10.9km climb of Jebel Hafeet.
