Dubai Tour 2016 – Stage 3 [FULL STAGE]

February 5, 2016

Dubai Tour 2016 – Stage 3 – Dubai – Hatta Dam : 172 km

The 2016 Dubai Tour route sees the race once again return to Hatta Dam, the location where John Degenkolb took a famous stage win on the 17 per cent climb to the line. The race kicks off with a 179km stage between Dubai and Fujairah. Marcel Kittel (Ettix QuickStep) is expected lead his new team in the race, making his debut after leaving Giant Shimano at the end of 2015. If he can find his form he should feature among the favourites for the opening leader’s jersey. Stage 2 will see the race head to Palm Jameirah, as it did in 2015, when Elia Vivianni won the stage. The next stage climbs to Hatta Dam before the final stage that takes place in the centre of Dubai.

Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) claimed victory on stage 3 of the Dubai Tour to Hatta Dam after a stinging attack. Lobato has a good record on this climb, finishing third here in 2015 behind John Degenkolb and his teammate Alejandro Valverde.

Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafrado) was the only rider to get near the Spaniard to finish second with Silvan Dillier taking third. Nizzolo’s performance was enough to put him into the leader’s jersey just ahead of Lobato.

It was BMC that took control of the bunch inside the final kilometre, with Samuel Sanchez pacing Gilbert up the climb. Sanchez peeled off as they went around the final corner, leaving Gilbert to deliver but the Belgian faded quickly. Lobato was quick to take advantage and sailed up the right-hand side of the road, gaining a substantial advantage early on. Nizzolo stuck to his wheel for a few metres but had to relent and let him go.

Behind him, there was a battle for the bonus seconds with Dillier leading home a group including Gilbert and Fabian Cancellara that finished four seconds back. Marcel Kittel, who had given up the lead the day before, put in a monumental effort to gain places, even on the climb’s toughest gradients. He held onto the coattails of Cancellara to keep himself in contention for the overall classification at six seconds down in the GC.

How it happened

Stage 3 of the Dubai Tour was set to be a crucial one for the overall fight, and the sprinters would have to ensure a strong finish on the Hatta Dam to keep themselves in contention. Viviani began the day as the new race leader after moving past Marcel Kittel (Etixx-QuickStep) in the general classification following his victory on stage 2.

One man that wouldn’t be in action was Michael Rogers (Tinkoff) who failed to make the start on medical advice. The Dubai Tour was the first race for Rogers since he was discovered to have a heart defect. Rogers was the only DNS and the remainder of the peloton took to the start for the 172-kilometre stage. However, Bernhard Eisel (Dimension Data) would join him as a retiree when he climbed off in the feed zone.

As has become an unspoken tradition at the Dubai Tour, Francisco Mancebo (Skydive Dubai) booked his place in the breakaway. Chun Kai Feng (Lampre-Merida), Andy Tennant (WIGGINS), Hayden McCormick (One Pro Cycling) and David Lozano Riba (Novo Nordisk) would keep him company in his endeavours.

With Viviani to look after Team Sky assumed the front of the peloton, where they would stay until the closing kilometres of the stage. The British outfit kept the escapees at close quarters allowing them a maximum advantage of 2:15. Saving themselves for the tough finish, the other teams were happy to let Sky take the pain on the front.

It wasn’t until the road started to climb towards Hatta Dam at just under 15 kilometres remaining that the real action began. As the escapees began dropping back into the peloton the attacks came. First off was Dimitry Gruzdev (Astana), sailing past the flagging escape group, igniting a furious battle to get off the front.

It appeared that Gruzdev’s move was nothing more than a softening up of the peloton as Lieuwe Westra then took leave of the front group, followed by another attack from Laurens de Vreese inside the final 10 kilometres. De Vreese’s move brought Ben Swift to the front, a serious threat to the victory for Astana. The pair took turns to try and shake Swift, who was forced to react to each upping of the pace.

As this was playing out front, Mark Cavendish’s continued to suffer, with late puncture resulting in him losing a hatful of time. There appeared to be an attempt to take a wheel from a teammate but the Manxman was eventually forced to wait for the team car to arrive by which time his hopes of the overall had all but ended.

The Westra, Gruzdev and Swift move would eventually be mopped up inside the final five kilometres by a peloton led by Movistar and Trek-Segafredo. Impressively, as many of the other sprinters had lost touch, Kittel still found himself inside the ever-reducing bunch.

Tony Martin led the group under the flame rouge, as the road towards the Hatta Dam began to really ramp up. He peeled off soon after to allow BMC take control in the form of Samuel Sanchez. He had Gilbert in his wheel but behind him was Cancellara, who had already shown this season that he was in strong form.

Gilbert was unable to utilise the punch that has won him several major races and he was resigned to watching Lobato power past him towards the line. Nizzolo would be the closest to him with Dillier taking third.

Results :
1 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Movistar Team 4:13:23
2 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:02
3 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:04
4 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
5 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
6 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Etixx – Quick-Step
7 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:07
8 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff Team
9 Davide Rebellin (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
10 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:00:11
11 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team-Dubai 0:00:14
12 Soufiane Haddi (Mar) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team – Al Ahli Club
13 Jesus Alberto Rubio (UAE) Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team-Dubai
14 Lars Boom (Ned) Astana Pro Team 0:00:17
15 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida 0:00:20
16 Andrea Palini (Ita) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team – Al Ahli Club 0:00:25
17 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:27
18 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
19 Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
20 Michael Gogl (Aut) Tinkoff Team
21 Nicolas Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:32
22 Javier Megias Leal (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
23 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Astana Pro Team
24 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team
25 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky
26 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
27 Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre – Merida
28 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data 0:00:37
29 Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team
30 Mark Christian (GBr) Team Wiggins 0:00:40
31 Adil Jelloul (Mar) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team – Al Ahli Club
32 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
33 Simone Petilli (Ita) Lampre – Merida
34 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky 0:00:44
35 Chris Opie (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling
36 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team
37 Simone Ponzi (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
38 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Tinkoff Team
39 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky
40 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
41 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) BMC Racing Team 0:01:09
42 Michal Kolar (Svk) Tinkoff Team 0:01:15
43 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky
44 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:01:22
45 Loic Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team
46 Valerio Conti (Ita) Lampre – Merida 0:01:25
47 Peter Williams (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling
48 Julien Vermote (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
49 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step
50 Branislau Samoilau (Blr) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
51 Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
52 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana Pro Team
53 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Team Wiggins 0:01:33
54 Ivan Santaromita (Swi) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team – Al Ahli Club
55 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre – Merida 0:01:48
56 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:52
57 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:01:57
58 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team 0:02:00
59 Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:02:05
60 Caleb Fairly (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:02:13
61 Adrian Honkisz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
62 Jaroslaw Marycz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:02:15
63 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:02:18
64 Liam Holohan (GBr) Team Wiggins
65 Yousif Mirza (UAE) Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team-Dubai
66 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
67 Tomasz Kiendys (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
68 Christopher Latham (GBr) Team Wiggins 0:02:24
69 Carter Jones (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin
70 Sindre Skjoestad Lunke (Nor) Team Giant-Alpecin
71 Marcin Bialoblocki (Pol) ONE Pro Cycling
72 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
73 Nick Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data 0:02:29
74 Sebastian Lander (Den) ONE Pro Cycling
75 Martin Mortensen (Den) ONE Pro Cycling
76 Yanto Barker (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling
77 Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Giant-Alpecin
78 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:36
79 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre – Merida 0:02:40
80 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team 0:03:05
81 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team
82 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:03:24
83 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team
84 Amael Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
85 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team-Dubai 0:03:30
86 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre – Merida 0:03:35
87 Grégory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:39
88 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:47
89 Nicolas Lefrancois (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
90 Grzegorz Stepniak (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:03:58
91 Adrian Kurek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
92 Daniel Patten (GBr) Team Wiggins 0:04:05
93 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 0:05:15
94 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk 0:05:20
95 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana Pro Team
96 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
97 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
98 Majid Albalushi (UAE) Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team-Dubai 0:05:23
99 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
100 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
101 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 0:05:32
102 Francisco Mancebo Perez (Spa) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team – Al Ahli Club
103 Erik Baska (Svk) Tinkoff Team
104 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team Wiggins 0:05:35
105 Matt Brammeier (Irl) Dimension Data
106 Hayden Mccormick (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling
107 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) ONE Pro Cycling 0:05:41
108 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:46
109 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension Data 0:06:09
110 Jaber Almansoori (UAE) Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team-Dubai 0:06:15
111 Ahmed Almansouri (UAE) Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team-Dubai 0:06:29
112 Ibrahim Al Ali (UAE) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team – Al Ahli Club 0:07:16
113 Marco Coledan (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:07:48
114 Kamberaj Xhuliano (Alb) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team – Al Ahli Club 0:07:53
115 Essaid Abelouache (Mar) Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team-Dubai
116 Songezo Jim (RSA) Dimension Data
117 Nick Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data
118 Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Lampre – Merida 0:08:56
119 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky 0:10:56
120 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Team Sky 0:11:09
121 Tariq Obaid (UAE) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team – Al Ahli Club 0:11:36
122 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Team Wiggins 0:12:34

General Classification after Stage 3 :
1 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 11:56:11
2 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:02
3 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:00:06
4 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:12
5 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:19
6 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:21
7 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
8 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff Team 0:00:24
9 Davide Rebellin (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
10 Soufiane Haddi (Mar) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team – Al Ahli Club 0:00:25
11 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:00:28
12 Jesus Alberto Rubio (UAE) Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team-Dubai 0:00:29
13 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team-Dubai 0:00:31
14 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky 0:00:34
15 Andrea Palini (Ita) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team – Al Ahli Club 0:00:37
16 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida
17 Michael Gogl (Aut) Tinkoff Team 0:00:39
18 Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:00:40
19 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:44
20 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:00:49
21 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Astana Pro Team
22 Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre – Merida
23 Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:00:54
24 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team 0:00:55
25 Lars Boom (Ned) Astana Pro Team
26 Chris Opie (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling 0:00:56
27 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:00:57
28 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:58
29 Javier Megias Leal (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk 0:01:00
30 Simone Ponzi (Ita) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:01:01
31 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky
32 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data 0:01:05
33 Simone Petilli (Ita) Lampre – Merida 0:01:08
34 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team 0:01:12
35 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky
36 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Tinkoff Team
37 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
38 Michal Kolar (Svk) Tinkoff Team 0:01:27
39 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky 0:01:32
40 Loic Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:01:37
41 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
42 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:01:39
43 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Astana Pro Team 0:01:42
44 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step
45 Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
46 Peter Williams (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling
47 Valerio Conti (Ita) Lampre – Merida
48 Branislau Samoilau (Blr) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:01:53
49 Ivan Santaromita (Swi) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team – Al Ahli Club 0:02:01
50 Adil Jelloul (Mar) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team – Al Ahli Club 0:02:09
51 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
52 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:02:14
53 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre – Merida 0:02:16
54 Adrian Honkisz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:02:30
55 Caleb Fairly (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin
56 Jaroslaw Marycz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:02:32
57 Tomasz Kiendys (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:02:35
58 Yousif Mirza (UAE) Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team-Dubai
59 Christopher Latham (GBr) Team Wiggins 0:02:41
60 Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Giant-Alpecin
61 Marcin Bialoblocki (Pol) ONE Pro Cycling 0:02:43
62 Yanto Barker (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling 0:02:46
63 Sebastian Lander (Den) ONE Pro Cycling
64 Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:02:51
65 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk 0:02:52
66 Sindre Skjoestad Lunke (Nor) Team Giant-Alpecin
67 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:53
68 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team 0:03:01
69 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre – Merida 0:03:16
70 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:03:17
71 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team 0:03:22
72 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:03:32
73 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team 0:03:33
74 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre – Merida 0:03:41
75 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team
76 Amael Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
77 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team-Dubai 0:03:42
78 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:03:52
79 Mark Christian (GBr) Team Wiggins 0:04:02
80 Grégory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:07
81 Grzegorz Stepniak (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:04:10
82 Adrian Kurek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:04:15
83 Nicolas Lefrancois (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
84 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Team Wiggins 0:04:20
85 Daniel Patten (GBr) Team Wiggins 0:04:33
86 Liam Holohan (GBr) Team Wiggins 0:04:47
87 Martin Mortensen (Den) ONE Pro Cycling 0:04:54
88 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:59
89 Carter Jones (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:05:15
90 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 0:05:21
91 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:05:32
92 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 0:05:37
93 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk 0:05:44
94 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk 0:05:48
95 Erik Baska (Svk) Tinkoff Team 0:05:49
96 Hayden Mccormick (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling
97 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk 0:05:51
98 Julien Vermote (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:05:52
99 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk 0:05:56
100 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 0:06:03
101 Nicolas Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:06:06
102 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) ONE Pro Cycling 0:06:09
103 Nick Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data
104 Jaber Almansoori (UAE) Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team-Dubai 0:06:32
105 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension Data 0:06:37
106 Essaid Abelouache (Mar) Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team-Dubai 0:08:04
107 Kamberaj Xhuliano (Alb) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team – Al Ahli Club 0:08:10
108 Marco Coledan (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:08:45
109 Ibrahim Al Ali (UAE) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team – Al Ahli Club 0:09:12
110 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team Wiggins 0:09:15
111 Francisco Mancebo Perez (Spa) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team – Al Ahli Club 0:09:34
112 Majid Albalushi (UAE) Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team-Dubai 0:09:38
113 Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Lampre – Merida 0:09:39
114 Ahmed Almansouri (UAE) Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team-Dubai 0:10:04
115 Matt Brammeier (Irl) Dimension Data 0:10:54
116 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky 0:11:24
117 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:11:57
118 Nick Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data 0:12:08
119 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Team Sky 0:12:43
120 Songezo Jim (RSA) Dimension Data 0:13:14
121 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Team Wiggins 0:16:14
122 Tariq Obaid (UAE) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team – Al Ahli Club 0:17:32