Dubai Tour 2017 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE]

January 31, 2017
Dubai Tour 2017 – Stage 1– Dubai – Palm Jumeirah – 181 km

The Dubai Tour is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Dubai, which began in 2014 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. The race was classified as a 2.1. in 2013.The race is organized by the Dubai Sports Council in partnership with RCS Sport, and was held for the first time between 5 and 8 February 2014. The race is a men’s competition consisting of four stages. The race contains mainly flat stages, with some hillier parts. In 2015, the second edition of the race has been upgraded to 2.HC, meaning that more UCI World Tour teams can compete in the event.
During the race, the leader of the general classification wears a blue jersey, the leader of points classification is denoted by a red jersey and best young rider by white. The race does not award a mountains jersey.

Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) opened his account on stage 1 of the Dubai Tour with a comprehensive victory over his sprint rivals.

The German was delivered perfectly to the line by his teammates and opened his sprint with 150 meters to go. Dylan Groenewegen (Lotto Jumbo NL) was on Kittel’s rear wheel but was unable to come around, while Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) was forced to settle for third after a late puncture.

Kittel, who won the overall title in Dubai last year, leads the race with four more stages remaining.

The pan-flat course was always designed with the world’s best sprinters in mind and, with Kittel, Cavendish, John Degenkolb and Elia Viviani all on the start list, there was little chance in a break succeeding.

Nevertheless, a five-man move steamed clear in the opening kilometres with Daniel Pearson (Aqua Blue Sport), Nicola Boem (Bardiani), Silvan Dillier (BMC), Thomas Stewart (One Pro Cycling) and Matteo Bono (UAE Abu Dhabi) building up a lead of close to five minutes after 50 kilometres of racing.

For the majority of the peloton this was their first race of the season and there was little appetite to chase in the opening hours of action. Dimension Data, Quick-Step Floors and Team Sky posted men at the front in order to keep the break in check, but when Boem sat up the peloton’s duties became even easier.

As the stage wore on Quick-Step intensified the chase with Bob Jungels doing the lion-share of the work on the front. The Luxembourg rider was present until the final five kilometres, and helped lay the groundwork for Kittel’s first win of 2017.

The catch was made with 10 kilometres remaining, with rival sprint trains looking to put their winter training to good use. With Jungels an almost constant presence on the front, Kittel’s cadre could afford to sit back. They managed to avoid two crashes inside the closing 20 kilometres and with five remaining they began to swamp the front of the peloton.

Dimension Data were well represented too, while UAE, Bahrain Merida, and Team Sky fought to get back on terms. As the race swung around a tight corner for the final straight three kilometres Quick-Step’s dominance became apparent as the rest of the sprinters, including Cavendish sought Kittel’s wheel. Adam Blythe glued himself to Cavendish, while Groenewegen, Viviani and Degenkolb moved into the mix.

However, once Kittel’s lead-out opened up for the line there was little any of the other sprinters could do. One after another, Kittel’s teammates pulled off the front and with the line in sight the German had his first victory of the season wrapped up. The Belgian team, who are looking for a sponsor for 2018 has seven wins already this year.

Results :
1 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 4:06:33
2 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
3 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
4 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
5 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
6 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky
7 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
8 Simone Consonni (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
9 Steele Von Hoff (Aus) ONE Pro Cycling
10 Adam Blythe (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
11 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
12 Juan Jose Lobato (Spa) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
13 Riccardo Minali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
14 Koen De Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
15 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF
16 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team
17 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
18 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Wilier Triestina
19 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team
20 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team
21 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team
22 Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
23 Yousif Mirza (UAE) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
24 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
25 Thomas Stewart (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling
26 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
27 Quentin Valognes (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
28 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo
29 Andrey Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
30 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky
31 Jan Polanc (Slo) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
32 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
33 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team
34 Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
35 Marco Maronese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
36 Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
37 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Team Sky
38 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
39 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
40 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team
41 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team
42 Karol Domagalski (Pol) ONE Pro Cycling
43 Hayden Mccormick (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling
44 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
45 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
46 Truls Korsaeth (Nor) Astana Pro Team
47 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky
48 Bram Tankink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
49 Peter Williams (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling
50 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors
51 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky
52 Amund Grondahl Jansen (Nor) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
53 Joshua Hunt (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling
54 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
55 Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
56 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
57 David Lozano (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
58 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
59 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
60 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
61 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
62 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
63 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
64 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team
65 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors
66 Daniel Pearson (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
67 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Wilier Triestina
68 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk
69 Cristian Rodriguez (Spa) Wilier Triestina
70 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF
71 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky
72 Matthew Brammeier (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport
73 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
74 Stefan Denifl (Aut) Aqua Blue Sport
75 Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
76 Mark Christian (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
77 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
78 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
79 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF
80 Nicola Boem (Ita) Bardiani CSF
81 Simone Velasco (Ita) Bardiani CSF
82 Rafael Andriato (Bra) Wilier Triestina
83 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team
84 Matteo Busato (Ita) Wilier Triestina
85 Giuseppe Fonzi (Ita) Wilier Triestina
86 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
87 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
88 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
89 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:15
90 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:00:17
91 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi 0:00:25
92 David Per (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:40
93 Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team
94 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data 0:00:56
95 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:00
96 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:01:06
97 Jaber Almansoori (UAE) UAE 0:01:09
98 Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk 0:01:37
99 Gerd De Keijzer (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
100 Majed Albloushi (UAE) UAE
101 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:58
102 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:24
103 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
104 Samuel Williams (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling 0:02:44
105 Héctor Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
106 Julien Vermote (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:02:53
107 Kristian House (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling 0:03:11
108 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:03:16
109 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
110 Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Bahrain-Merida
111 Matteo Bono (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
112 Borut Bozic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
113 Mohammed Yousef Al Mansouri (UAE) UAE
114 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
115 Alberto Cecchin (Ita) Wilier Triestina
116 Liam Bertazzo (Ita) Wilier Triestina 0:04:27
117 Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky
118 Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:04:53
119 Nicholas Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data
120 Simone Sterbini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:05:43
121 Nasser Almemari (UAE) UAE 0:07:39
122 Mohammed Al Maurawwi Alblooshi (UAE) UAE
123 Badr Alhammadi (UAE) UAE
124 Ahmed Almansoori (UAE) UAE
125 Saif Alkaabi (UAE) UAE
DNF Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Aqua Blue Sport

General Classification after stage 1 :
1 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 4:06:23
2 Nicola Boem (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:00:03
3 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:04
4 Thomas Stewart (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling
5 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 0:00:06
6 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team
7 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:10
8 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
9 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky
10 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
11 Simone Consonni (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
12 Steele Von Hoff (Aus) ONE Pro Cycling
13 Adam Blythe (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
14 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
15 Juan Jose Lobato (Spa) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
16 Riccardo Minali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
17 Koen De Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
18 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF
19 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team
20 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
21 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Wilier Triestina
22 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team
23 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team
24 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team
25 Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
26 Yousif Mirza (UAE) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
27 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
28 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
29 Quentin Valognes (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
30 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo
31 Andrey Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
32 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky
33 Jan Polanc (Slo) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
34 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
35 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team
36 Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
37 Marco Maronese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
38 Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
39 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Team Sky
40 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
41 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
42 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team
43 Karol Domagalski (Pol) ONE Pro Cycling
44 Hayden Mccormick (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling
45 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
46 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
47 Truls Korsaeth (Nor) Astana Pro Team
48 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky
49 Bram Tankink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
50 Peter Williams (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling
51 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors
52 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky
53 Amund Grondahl Jansen (Nor) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
54 Joshua Hunt (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling
55 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
56 Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
57 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
58 David Lozano (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
59 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
60 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
61 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
62 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
63 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
64 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
65 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team
66 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors
67 Daniel Pearson (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
68 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Wilier Triestina
69 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk
70 Cristian Rodriguez (Spa) Wilier Triestina
71 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF
72 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky
73 Matthew Brammeier (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport
74 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
75 Stefan Denifl (Aut) Aqua Blue Sport
76 Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
77 Mark Christian (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
78 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
79 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
80 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF
81 Simone Velasco (Ita) Bardiani CSF
82 Rafael Andriato (Bra) Wilier Triestina
83 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team
84 Matteo Busato (Ita) Wilier Triestina
85 Giuseppe Fonzi (Ita) Wilier Triestina
86 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
87 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
88 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Team UAE Abu Dhabi
89 Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team
90 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:25
91 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:00:27
92 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi 0:00:35
93 David Per (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:50
94 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data 0:01:06
95 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:10
96 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:01:16
97 Jaber Almansoori (UAE) UAE 0:01:19
98 Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk 0:01:47
99 Gerd De Keijzer (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
100 Majed Albloushi (UAE) UAE
101 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:08
102 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:34
103 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
104 Samuel Williams (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling 0:02:54
105 Héctor Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
106 Julien Vermote (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:03:03
107 Kristian House (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling 0:03:21
108 Matteo Bono (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi 0:03:25
109 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:03:26
110 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
111 Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Bahrain-Merida
112 Borut Bozic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
113 Mohammed Yousef Al Mansouri (UAE) UAE
114 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
115 Alberto Cecchin (Ita) Wilier Triestina
116 Liam Bertazzo (Ita) Wilier Triestina 0:04:37
117 Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky
118 Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:05:03
119 Nicholas Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data
120 Simone Sterbini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:05:53
121 Nasser Almemari (UAE) UAE 0:07:49
122 Mohammed Al Maurawwi Alblooshi (UAE) UAE
123 Badr Alhammadi (UAE) UAE
124 Ahmed Almansoori (UAE) UAE
125 Saif Alkaabi (UAE) UAE