The opening stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour was always going to finish in a nervous sprint and the risk of crashes was especially high after a slow day in the desert and then a high-speed finale through a series of corners.
The final left turn, with a kilometre to go, caused the most chaos, with Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) and Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) amongst those who went down.
Team Sky's Owain Doull, who had been making his WorldTour debut, was also involved and suffered cuts to his back and legs. He attributed some of the cuts, as well as slice marks in his left shoe, to Kittel's disc brake rotors. Doull's British compatriot Alex Dowsett (Movistar) was caught up too but both were able to make it to the finish.
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Several riders, including Ewan, seemed to hit the roadside barriers on the left as the road narrowed. Kittel went down too and seemed to cut his right knee. Ewan was one of the most effected by the fall, but the young Australian did finally remount and make it to the finish line. All of the riders who crashed under the flamme rouge should be given the same time as the winner, Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data).
It wasn't just that last corner that caught out some riders as pinch-points along the course meant trouble for some. Both of Trek-Segafredo's general classification leaders, Bauke Mollema and Alberto Contador, went down during the stage. Contador was forced to finish the stage on a teammate's bike and that most of the team was sent back to help him.
— Marcel Kittel (@marcelkittel) February 23, 2017
— Sophie Smith (@SophieSmith86) February 23, 2017
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