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Cavendish wins Stage 1 of the Abu Dhabi Tour

First triumph of the season, third career Abu Dhabi Tour win for Brit

Mark Cavendish (Great Britain/Dimension Data) took his third career stage victory of the Abu Dhabi Tour in Thursday’s opening round of the race’s first inclusion in the WorldTour. Cavendish and Andre Greipel (Germany/Lotto-Soudal) avoided a crash in the final kilometre, but Marcel Kittel (Germany/Quick Step) could not.


It was certainly a profile that suited the fast men, although exposed desert roads always hold the possibility of echelons. Thursday’s stage wasn’t particularly hot.


Just in time for the big Emerati race of the year, the old Lampre team, which had been called UAE-Abu Dhabi for a couple of months, became UAE Team Emerites this week. The team’s kit improved slightly with the new incarnation.


In other team news, Sky, which had planned to send seven instead of eight riders to the Abu Dhabi Tour, fielded six when Ian Boswell developed the shingles. The team could face a $13,000 fine for a reduced team.

Immediately a sextet stole away to run up a maximum gap of 5:00 on the peloton. Italian Manuele Mori would take maximum points and time bonuses at both intermediate sprints for the UAE-Team Emirates outfit.

The sextet became a trio with about 50-km remaining and teams like Lotto-Soudal worked to make sure the capture came at the right time. The teams gathered in their colour blocks as the catch came nearer.


With 16-km to go the race came back together. There was plenty of dicing as sprinters’ teams looked to launch their riders and GC squads endeavoured to keep their men protected. A crash with 5-km remaining took down Trek-Segafredo’s Alberto Contador, but a teammate’s bike and team effort helped to bring him back just before the big showdown.


Quick-Step mobbed the front for Kittel, and Greipel grabbed his compatriot’s wheel. But another crash right at the red kite spilled Kittel and several others. Greipel got around the carnage but could not come around Cavendish, whose lead-out was precise. Niccolo Bonifazio (Italy/Bahrain-Merida) placed third.

Sky’s Owain Doull had a scare when his shoe was sliced open in the last wreck. Gregory Rast put the blame squarely at the, er, feet of Kittel, the only rider in the race outfitted with disc brakes.

Another sprinter’s stage, this time with more of a city course, is scheduled for Friday.

2017 Abu Dhabi Tour Stage 1
1) Mark Cavendish (Great Britain/Dimension Data) 4:37:06
2) Andre Greipel (Germany/Lotto-Soudal) s.t.
3) Niccolo Bonifazio (Italy/Bahrain-Merida) s.t.