Dubai Tour 2018 – Stage 3 [FULL STAGE]

February 08 2018

Dubai Tour 2018 – Stage 3 – Skydive Dubai – Fujairah : 180 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.

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.

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.

The past two stages have been a relatively straightforward affair with the chaos reserved for the final 10 kilometres of the day. The weather had other ideas for stage 3 with the wind picking up in the second half of the day. The resulting crosswinds caused some problems for the peloton, which split in two. Bouhanni was one of those who missed the cut and, at one point, was left trailing the peloton by over a minute. In the scramble, Groenewegen found himself in no man’s land with 68 kilometres to go. Several of his teammates dropped back to help him but he also utilised the slipstream of a team car to make it back to the bunch. The race jury deemed it was too much and later added 20 seconds to his time, putting him out of the race lead, and the top 10.

The push from the front of the peloton saw the lead of the four escapees decimated and they were brought back with more than 60 kilometres remaining. It would be almost 15 kilometres more before Bouhanni and his companions were able to re-join the peloton. A ceasefire appeared to be called by then and the peloton trundled along at a much easier pace for some time before Tom Bohli jumped clear with 30 kilometres remaining. The BMC Racing rider never stood a chance against the might of the sprinters’ teams and he was back in the comfort of the bunch with 13 kilometres to go.

Aside from a roundabout with three kilometres to go, the road to the line was wide and straight. That gave plenty of room for the sprinters and their trains to fight for position and they did just that with elbows and shoulders being liberally used up and down the peloton. Sabatini pulled Viviani into place with less than a kilometre to go, peeling off with 200 metres remaining to give his compatriot a free run to the line.

Viviani opened the afterburners, but he didn’t have the pace to match a determined Cavendish who sailed past him.

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

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