Dubai Tour 2018 – Stage 2 [LAST 25 KM]

February 07, 2018

Dubai Tour 2018 – Stage 2 – Skydive Dubai – Ras Al Khaimah : 190 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.

Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) collected the best birthday present he could wish for with victory on stage 2 of the Dubai Tour. The Italian, who turned 29 today, edged out stage 1 winner Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Riccardo Minali (Astana) to take the spoils.

The stage was decided by another messy and chaotic sprint with none of the major leadout teams able to deliver their sprinter perfectly to the line. On stage 1 it was Groenewegen who picked his way through the crowd and 24 hours later it was Viviani who repeated the trick. He timed his acceleration perfectly, seeing off the challenge from Mark Cavendish (Dimenion Data) who took fourth, and then holding off a late charge from the faster-finishing Groenewegen.

Groenewegen remains the overall leader, with Viviani just two seconds in arrears. BMC Racing’s Nathan Van Hooydonck once again made it into the break and collected enough bonus seconds to finish the stage third overall, nine seconds down on the overall leader.

“Having my birthday today added to my motivation. Losing yesterday was also good for my head,” explained Viviani. “Overnight we felt like we missed one chance that would never be given back. I feel I’m in good condition and have the legs for winning. I had a mechanical but luckily it was with 20km to go and I had time to come back. With 500m to go, my lead out man Fabio Sabatini closed the gap. I chose Kristoff’s wheel. I saw Groenewegen coming back with 50 meters but finally the line was in the right place for me to win. I’m pretty happy.”

For the second day in a row, Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin) failed to deliver his lines when the spotlight shone in his direction. The German rider had his team on the front for most of the stage, but they withdrew from the action in the closing stages only to rally with a desperate challenge inside the final two kilometres. However, with his train fragmented, Kittel was unable to find a way through the bunch.

Viviani, who replaced Kittel at Quick-Step over the winter, had his team to thank after a late puncture inside the final 25 kilometres threatened to derail the Italian’s chances. He was duly paced back to the front of the bunch and his squad diligently controlled affairs until the final few hundred meters, at which point it seemed as though it was every sprinter for himself. Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) was in the mix but he was unable to hold his challenge when Viviani opened up the throttle. Mark Cavendish appeared to be well-placed to come around the Italian’s wheel but ran out of steam as the line drew closer. Minali enjoyed clean air when he began his kick but Viviani had the measure of everyone. Groenewegen’s late surge looked impressive but he gave himself too much to do in the final 100 meters.

The early phase of the stage saw another break slip clear in the opening kilometres with Nathan Van Hooydonck (BMC Racing), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis Solutions Crédit), Fuwen Xue (Mitchelton-BikeExchange), Charles Planet (Team Novo Nordisk), Mohamed Al Mansouri (United Arab Emirates) and Yousif Mirza (UAE Team Emirates).

Van Hooydonck and Planet had been on the attack the day before, while Edet was Cofidis’ second representative in the main break after Daniel Teklehaimanot had marked his debut for the team with an attack on stage 1.

The leaders built up a near seven-minute advantage at one stage but Katusha initiated the chase and reduced the gap to a minute with just over an hour of racing remaining. There was a volley of defiance from the break as they Xue, Planet and Edet dropped their companions and restored the lead to over two minutes but, with under 15 kilometres to go, the peloton were in complete control.

The win marks Viviani’s second triumph of the season after the former Team Sky rider claimed an equally impressive stage victory at the Tour Down Under in January. The season is only a few weeks old but Quick-Step have already won five times, and if their Dubai performance is anything to go by, Viviani is set to enjoy the best years of his career as part of the Patrick Lefevere’s blue train. As for Kittel, it’s back to the drawing board for him and his lead out.

Results :
1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors 4:34:31
2 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
3 Riccardo Minali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
4 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
5 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
6 Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team
7 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
8 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
9 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
10 Adam Blythe (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
11 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
12 Mehdi Benhamouda (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
13 Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Mitchelton-Bikeexchange
14 Eric Young (USA) Rally Cycling
15 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
16 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
17 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
18 Truls Korsaeth (Nor) Astana Pro Team
19 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team
20 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
21 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team
22 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
23 Nazaerbieke Bieken (Chn) Mitchelton-BikeExchange
24 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) BMC Racing Team
25 Michel Kreder (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport
26 Borut Bozic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
27 Brian Kamstra (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
28 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) LottoNL-Jumbo
29 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Quick-Step Floors
30 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
31 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team
32 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
33 Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton-Bikeexchange
34 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
35 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally Cycling
36 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
37 Luca Pacioni (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
38 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
39 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) BMC Racing Team
40 Nasser Almemari (UAE) UAE National Team
41 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
42 Xialong Sun (Chn) Mitchelton-BikeExchange
43 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
44 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling
45 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
46 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
47 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
48 Brad Huff (USA) Rally Cycling
49 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data
50 Jaber Almansoori (UAE) UAE National Team
51 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
52 Anass Ait El Abdia (Mar) UAE Team Emirates
53 Brandon Mcnulty (USA) Rally Cycling
54 Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk
55 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team
56 Loic Chetout (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
57 Moh Almaurawwi Alblooshi (UAE) UAE National Team
58 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
59 Daniel Pearson (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
60 Samuel Jenner (Aus) Mitchelton-Bikeexchange
61 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data
62 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
63 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
64 Filippo Ganna (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
65 Timo Roosen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
66 Majed Albloushi (UAE) UAE National Team
67 Tyler Magner (USA) Rally Cycling
68 Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
69 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin
70 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
71 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
72 Mark Christian (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
73 Marco Coledan (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
74 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:20
75 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
76 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:23
77 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:26
78 Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
79 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick-Step Floors
80 Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:00:31
81 Thomas Leezer (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
82 Matteo Bono (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:32
83 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:36
84 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:00:42
85 Matthew Brammeier (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport
86 Quentin Valognes (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
87 Khalid Mayouf (UAE) UAE National Team
88 Liam Bertazzo (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:00:44
89 Eugert Zhupa (Alb) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
90 Simone Bevilacqua (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
91 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
92 David Per (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
93 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:51
94 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:58
95 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:18
96 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:01:37
97 Bram Tankink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
98 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:01:40
99 Saif Alkaabi (UAE) UAE National Team 0:01:43
100 Tim Declercq (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:47
101 Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data
102 Marco Mathis (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:06
103 Conor Dunne (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport 0:02:12
104 Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
105 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
106 Mohammed Almansoori (UAE) UAE National Team 0:03:31
107 Yousif Mirza Al-Hammadi (UAE) UAE Team Emirates
108 Fuwen Xue (Chn) Mitchelton-Bikeexchange 0:05:08
109 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk 0:05:36
DNS Wenhui Bi (Chn) Mitchelton-Bikeexchange

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 8:25:50
2 Elia Viviani (Ita) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:02
3 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:09
4 Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:00:10
5 Riccardo Minali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:12
6 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:16
7 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
8 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
9 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
10 Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Mitchelton-Bikeexchange
11 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
12 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
13 Adam Blythe (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
14 Eric Young (USA) Rally Cycling
15 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team
16 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
17 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
18 Mehdi Benhamouda (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
19 Brian Kamstra (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk
20 Michel Kreder (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport
21 Robert Stannard (Aus) Mitchelton-Bikeexchange
22 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
23 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team
24 Borut Bozic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
25 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
26 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
27 Nazaerbieke Bieken (Chn) Mitchelton-BikeExchange
28 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data
29 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Quick-Step Floors
30 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
31 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data
32 Brandon Mcnulty (USA) Rally Cycling
33 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
34 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
35 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
36 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team
37 Anass Ait El Abdia (Mar) UAE Team Emirates
38 Timo Roosen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
39 Brad Huff (USA) Rally Cycling
40 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
41 Tyler Magner (USA) Rally Cycling
42 Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
43 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
44 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin
45 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:00:28
46 Luca Pacioni (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
47 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
48 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:36
49 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
50 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:42
51 Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:00:47
52 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:52
53 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
54 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 0:01:00
55 Filippo Ganna (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:10
56 Eugert Zhupa (Alb) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:01:12
57 David Per (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:16
58 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:18
59 Jaber Almansoori (UAE) UAE National Team 0:01:27
60 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:38
61 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) BMC Racing Team 0:01:46
62 Loic Chetout (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
63 Marco Coledan (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:01:48
64 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:55
65 Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data 0:02:03
66 Thomas Leezer (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:02:19
67 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:29
68 Liam Bertazzo (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:02:34
69 Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk 0:02:51
70 Moh Almaurawwi Alblooshi (UAE) UAE National Team
71 Majed Albloushi (UAE) UAE National Team
72 Samuel Jenner (Aus) Mitchelton-Bikeexchange 0:03:06
73 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
74 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:03:29
75 Tim Declercq (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:03:33
76 Matteo Bono (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:38
77 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:03:44
78 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
79 Danny Pate (USA) Rally Cycling
80 Daniel Pearson (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
81 Mark Christian (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
82 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:03:48
83 Quentin Valognes (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
84 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 0:03:55
85 Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:58
86 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:04:16
87 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:04:20
88 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport 0:04:25
89 Simone Bevilacqua (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:04:31
90 Bram Tankink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:04:43
91 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:04:46
92 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:05:20
93 Xialong Sun (Chn) Mitchelton-BikeExchange
94 Saif Alkaabi (UAE) UAE National Team 0:05:27
95 Conor Dunne (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport 0:05:44
96 Nasser Almemari (UAE) UAE National Team 0:06:07
97 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally Cycling 0:07:06
98 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:07:11
99 Matthew Brammeier (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport 0:07:17
100 Truls Korsaeth (Nor) Astana Pro Team 0:07:28
101 Khalid Mayouf (UAE) UAE National Team 0:07:45
102 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:08:45
103 Fuwen Xue (Chn) Mitchelton-Bikeexchange 0:08:52
104 Marco Mathis (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:09:12
105 Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:09:18
106 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:10:03
107 Yousif Mirza Al-Hammadi (UAE) UAE Team Emirates 0:11:28
108 Mohammed Almansoori (UAE) UAE National Team 0:11:29
109 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk 0:11:59