UAE Tour 2019 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

February 25, 2019

UAE Tour 2019 – Stage 2 – Yas Mall – Abu Dhabi Breakwater : 184 km

After running three separate races in recent years, the UAE will host its first national stage race this season. The inaugural UAE Tour is the coming together of the previous Dubai and Abu Dhabi Tours and features visits to the other five Emirates, including Sharjah – the scene of the country’s other multi-day race.By combining the two events, organiser RCS Sport have been able to expand the event to seven stages and include multiple hilltop finishes that should see the fight for the overall classification spread across the whole week. There are also three opportunities for the sprinters to take a victory. While most of the Classics riders will be back in Europe for the opening weekend in Belgium, the parcours, the weather and the race’s WorldTour status has attracted a wealth of Grand Tour talent and sprinters.

Fernando Gaviria gave UAE Team Emirates a victory on home soil on stage 2 of the inaugural UAE Tour, winning a bunch sprint in Abu Dhabi.

The Colombian had a luxury lead-out man in Alexander Kristoff and, after opening his sprint from range, held off former teammate Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-QuickStep) in a close-fought contest. Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) took the final place on the podium.

Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) finished safely in the peloton to retain the overall lead, though the race had earlier been split by coastal crosswinds before coming back together for a bunch gallop.

“The sprint was really difficult because there were a lot of strong riders,” said Gaviria. “My teammates did a really good job on the stage even in the wind. The peloton took it easy after the wind and it worked perfectly.

“I had a really good lead-out man with [Alexander] Kristoff. It’s not only good for me but for the team. UAE is a new country for me and is the sponsor for the team, it is important for the team and for me.”

Gaviria had started his season in style with two wins at the Vuelta a San Juan but was forced to abandon the Tour Colombia through illness. If there were some doubts over his shape coming to the UAE, they were wiped out emphatically here, along with any hint of doubt about whether Kristoff would be happy to sacrifice his chances and work for his younger teammate.

The team were quiet on the run-in but hit the front when it mattered in the final kilometre. Kristoff reached full sprint with Gaviria in the wheel and the 24-year-old didn’t wait long before opening the taps. Viviani, who also had two wins from the start of the season, had shown his track skills in fighting his up way onto Gaviria’s wheel, and stayed there for a little while before attempting to come around, but to no avail.

Ewan was unable to threaten the pair and finished a more distant third, with Kristoffer Halvorsen (Team Sky) fourth and Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) sixth behind his lead-out man Erik Baska. Sacha Modolo (EF Education First), Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin), Marc Sarreau (Groupama-FJD), and Jakub Mareczko (CCC Team) all made the top 10, while the likes of Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data), Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Merida), and Max Walscheid (Sunweb) were out of the picture.

Crosswinds

The race started out in relaxed fashion as a four-man breakaway quickly clipped off the front of the peloton and built a lead of 12 minutes. In there were two riders apiece from Novo Nordisk – Sam Brand and Charles Planet – and Gazpom-RusVelo – Igor Boev and Stepan Kuriyanov.

It was all calm for the first two hours but then the riders hit the exposed coastal roads by the Khalifa Port and the wind blew the field to pieces, sparking an hour of high-octane racing.

The breakaway quartet’s lead plummeted as the peloton formed into three groups. In the first were just 26 riders, including race leader Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), world champion Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) as well as sprinters in Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates), Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin), and Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal).

Back in the much larger second group were the rest of the big names, with the exception of Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) who was caught out in another group nearly three minutes back.

The gap between the first and second pelotons hung at around the minute-mark as the 26 out front all came through to take their turns and keep things rolling. They caught the breakaway with 75km to go, but by then the race had turned away from the exposed roads and a lull had already allowed the second peloton to get back to within touching distance. QuickStep finished the job and it was back together. The pace then slowed to such an extent that Porte’s group was also able to get back into contention.

“It was a typical race here with the wind. I was in the first group but in the end everything came together. I think we showed our guys are really strong and I thank them,” said Roglic.

The pace then dipped even lower, allowing Planet and Kuriyanov to head back out and build a lead of more than five minutes in a blink of an eye. Jumbo-Visma eventually called off the détente and started to control the gap from the front of the peloton, as the race made its way towards the finish in far more relaxed fashion. Movistar then took over, keeping Valverde safe until the 3km-to-go banner, before the sprint trains clicked into gear.

Sunweb, Bahrain, and Bora were all prominent, and FDJ led the way though the late right-hand bend that took the field into the final kilometre and into a headwind, but it was UAE who timed it right with their all-star duo. Viviani was a huge threat but Gaviria managed to sustain his powerful sprint into the wind, much to the delight of his team’s sponsors.

Results :
1 Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates 4:36:32
2 Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
3 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
4 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky
5 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
7 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First
8 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
9 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
10 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team
11 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
12 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Merida
13 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
14 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb
15 Patrick Bevin (NZl) CCC Team
16 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
17 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
18 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott
19 Adam Blythe (GBr) Lotto Soudal
20 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
21 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
22 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
23 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
24 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
25 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
26 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
27 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
28 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
29 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
30 Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk
31 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
32 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
33 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
34 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky
35 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb
36 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
37 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First
38 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma
39 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team
40 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
41 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Dimension Data
42 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb
43 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team
44 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
45 Declan Irvine (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk
46 Jos van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
47 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
48 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
49 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky
50 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
51 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Education First
52 Sean Bennett (USA) EF Education First
53 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
54 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky
55 Anton Vorobyev (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
56 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
57 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
58 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
59 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
60 Mehdi Benhamouda (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
61 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana Pro Team
62 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
63 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates
64 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
65 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
66 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
67 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
68 Sergei Shilov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
69 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale
70 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
71 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb
72 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott
73 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep
74 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal
75 Mikkel Frølich Honoré (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
76 Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
77 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team
78 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team
79 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal
80 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
81 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Team
82 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida
83 Serge Pauwels (Bel) CCC Team
84 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
85 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data
86 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
87 Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk
88 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
89 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
90 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
91 Victor De La Parte (Spa) CCC Team
92 Mickael Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
93 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
94 Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
95 Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First
96 Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
97 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team
98 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott
99 Ildar Arslanov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
100 Brent Bookwalter (USA) Mitchelton-Scott
101 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data
102 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
103 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team
104 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky
105 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
106 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
107 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
108 Stepan Kuriyanov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
109 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
110 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
111 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team
112 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
113 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data
114 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin
115 Will Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
116 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
117 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
118 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb
119 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education First
120 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
121 Jaime Castrillo (Spa) Movistar Team
122 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
123 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
124 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
125 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
126 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:32
127 James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First 0:00:49
128 Paul Martens (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma
129 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
130 Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
131 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:51
132 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:01:10
133 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:19
134 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb 0:01:47
135 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:02:06
136 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:08
137 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky
138 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:08
139 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:09:39
DNF Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 4:53:21
2 Jos van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
3 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
4 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
5 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:06
6 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:00:07
7 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb
8 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb
9 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:09
10 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
11 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky 0:00:14
12 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
13 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky
14 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky
15 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky
16 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky
17 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:18
18 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
19 Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
20 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team
21 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
22 Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:20
23 Patrick Bevin (NZl) CCC Team 0:00:24
24 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team
25 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Team
26 Victor De La Parte (Spa) CCC Team
27 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) CCC Team
28 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb
29 Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:26
30 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First
31 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First
32 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) EF Education First
33 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
34 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
35 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep
36 Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First
37 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education First
38 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
39 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
40 Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:29
41 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
42 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
43 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
44 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
45 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
46 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
47 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
48 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
49 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data
50 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
51 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data
52 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
53 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Dimension Data
54 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:32
55 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott
56 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott
57 Brent Bookwalter (USA) Mitchelton-Scott
58 Mikkel Frølich Honoré (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:33
59 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:36
60 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
61 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates
62 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:00:41
63 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
64 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:43
65 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
66 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
67 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida
68 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
69 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
70 Will Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
71 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:44
72 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team
73 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team
74 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team
75 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
76 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:45
77 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
78 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
79 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal
80 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal
81 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
82 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin
83 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Katusha-Alpecin
84 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:48
85 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:00:49
86 Sean Bennett (USA) EF Education First 0:00:53
87 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:54
88 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
89 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
90 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
91 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:00:55
92 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:00:57
93 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb
94 Sergei Shilov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
95 Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
96 Ildar Arslanov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
97 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:00
98 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:07
99 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:12
100 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:13
101 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:15
102 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:16
103 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:19
104 Stepan Kuriyanov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:01:22
105 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky 0:01:29
106 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:32
107 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Dimension Data 0:01:39
108 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 0:01:46
109 Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk
110 Declan Irvine (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk
111 Fabio Calabria (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk
112 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
113 Adam Blythe (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:01:47
114 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
115 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:50
116 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:54
117 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb
118 Serge Pauwels (Bel) CCC Team 0:01:55
119 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:59
120 Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
121 Jaime Castrillo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:00
122 Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:05
123 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:06
124 James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First
125 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:02:08
126 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:10
127 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:17
128 Mickael Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:23
129 Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk 0:02:31
130 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:40
131 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:43
132 Anton Vorobyev (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:02:44
133 Paul Martens (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:02:56
134 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:03:04
135 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team 0:03:08
136 Mehdi Benhamouda (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk 0:03:18
137 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:03:42
138 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:03:46
139 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:11:46