Elia Viviani added to a very successful day for team Sky with victory on a crash-effected second stage of the Dubai Tour. Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) claimed second with Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) rounding out the podium. Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) and Marcel Kittel (Etixx-QuickStep) were put out of contention after a crash in the final kilometre leaving it to a small group to duke it out.
Viviani looked untouchable in the reduced bunch sprint after a strong leadout from Ben Swift. It the Italian’s first victory of the season after being beaten by the smallest of margins on the final stage of the Tour de San Luis, by his own leadout man Jakub Mareczko. That defeat had elicited an unusually strong reaction from Viviani, who refused to attend the podium ceremony
“I would have preferred to win last week in San Luis but I finished second and third there a few times but it is perfect to start the season well here. It’s really the same as the last years because I won my first race here in La Palma last year. Maybe it is a lucky race for me here,” Viviani said after the stage.
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“Today we did a perfect leadout, yesterday we had some faults and we went too early and I was alone in the last kilometre. I needed to do a long sprint and I’m not competitive enough to beat some of the best sprinters this year. If I do the first sprint for position, then I lose any chance of winning the sprint for victory. Today we perfected some movements and Andy Fenn and Swift did a perfect leadout for me. We came out of the tunnel really fast in the first positions. Andy and Swifty took me to 200 metres to go and I have to say thanks to the team for a perfect job. “
A crash at the mouth of a tunnel with a kilometre remaining all but ended the hopes of the pre-stage favourites, Cavendish and Kittel. The crash appeared to be sparked by a touch of wheels with a Trek-Segafredo rider going down. While Cavendish was able to fight back into the leading group, the efforts showed and he came home in 10th. Kittel didn’t have such luck and rolled in well down on the group.
Viviani’s victory made him the new race leader with Kittel keeping second place, due to the crash being inside the three-kilometre mark.
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