Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) claimed stage 1 of the Abu Dhabi Tour with an impressive sprint that saw off his rivals in a finish dominated by crashes. The Manxman held off a late charge from André Greipel (Lotto Soudal), while Marcel Kittel (QuickStep-Floors) was among the fallers in the final 1,000 metres.
The final five kilometres were marred by falls. Trek-Segafredo's Alberto Contador and Bauke Mollema both hit the deck but were excellently paced back to the peloton by their team. Heading into the line, the road narrowed, and a touch of wheels saw Kittel and number of other riders fall. Sky's Owain Doull, among those tangled up in the crash, emerged from the incident with his left shoe showing signs of having been sliced by Kittel's disc brake rotor.
Cavendish came through the carnage unscathed, and was well led out by his team. The British rider allowed Niccolò Bonifazio (Bahrain-Merida) to come around him, and used the Italian as he sheltered from the wind. With 150 metres to go Cavendish raced onto the Italian’s wheel, with Greipel in pursuit. The German, however, was unable to come around his rival, and was forced to settle for second, with Bonifazio holding on for third.
ADVERTISEMENT
After taking his first win of the season, Cavendish now leads the overall standings from Greipel.
“I can't fault anyone in the team. If I'd lost it would have been only my fault. It was the same finish as last year and I was only third then, with us having made some mistakes. We went through what we did wrong last year, tried to do the complete opposite and that's what happened," said Cavendish.
The stage was billed as the first heavyweight contest with the lion's share of the world’s best sprinters on the start line. And as Lotto Soudal, Quick-Step, and Dimension Data fought for control at the front of the bunch, the stage was set for a thrilling finale. Team Sky and Orica-Scott looked to play their part for Elia Viviani and Caleb Ewan, respectively, but the Australian fell with Kittel, while Viviani was unable to challenge his rivals, and surfed home in fifth place.
- Disc brakes: UCI calls on CPA to 'respect the democratic process'
- Kittel disc brake success sparks debate in the Dubai Tour peloton
- Dubai Tour: Kittel savours his first win on disc brakes
- Marcel Kittel's custom Specialized S-Works Venge ViAS disc – Gallery
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Race Results http://ift.tt/2lzIOSr
No comments:
Post a Comment