Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) opened his 2018 account with a convincing win on stage 3 of the Dubai Tour. After poor positioning and a lack of speed on the opening two days or racing, Cavendish set himself up perfectly to take his third career victory at the Dubai Tour. Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) put in a much better performance to take second while Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin) came from a long way back to finish third. Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) came through in 10th place and initially held onto his race lead but was docked 20 seconds by the race jury for drafting, handing the lead to stage 2 winner Elia Viviani.
“I had a good feeling today, especially after yesterday. I knew I was there. I knew the team was there," Cavendish said after the stage. "I can't beat Viviani in a track sprint race so I had to wait, wait and wait, and use my jump. Any time of the year, it's important to win. It's good for my account. Already with this win, I've won the same amount of races I won in the whole season last year. The thing I'm disappointed about is that yesterday, when I realized I couldn't win, had I kept going, I would have come second and be in the lead now. It's my own fault. But I'll try and get the blue jersey in the next two days."
With most of the sprinting talent keen to get an early win on the board, it was yet another frenetic sprint as rival trains jostled for position. Once again, Katusha-Alpecin and Quick-Step Floors dominated that particular battle coming into the final kilometres with Bahrain-Merida putting in a quick turn with Vincenzo Nibali.
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With fewer teammates to assist him, Cavendish kept a low profile in the chaotic finale. He positioned himself nicely behind the train of Viviani, which Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) had also latched on. As Cavendish’s former leadout rider Fabio Sabatini moved off to the right, Viviani picked up the pace. Whereas he admitted to not having the speed to match Viviani on day two, Cavendish had no such problems here. He rounded both Colbrelli and Viviani to take a clear run up the middle of the road and take the victory.
Bouhanni had been lurking in Cavendish’s wheel after being set up nicely by his Cofidis squad. When Cavendish went, the Frenchman followed and held on for second place despite a late surge from Kittel. The Katusha-Alpecin rider has struggled in the sprints so far this year, and while he won’t be too happy to finish third, it is a step forward for him and his new team.
As it has been since the race started on Tuesday, a small break formed very early on in the day. Simone Bevilacqua (Willier), Mark Christian (Aqua Blue Sport), Loic Vliegen (BMC Racing Team) and Quentin Valognes (Team Novo Nordisk) broke clear, and with 100 kilometres still to run they had some three minutes on the peloton.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Race Results http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/dubai-tour-2018/stage-3/results
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