UAE Tour 2020 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE]

February 23, 2020

UAE Tour 2020 – Stage 1 – The Pointe Palm Jumeirah – Dubai Silicon Oasis : 148 km

The second edition of the UAE Tour (February 23-29) kicks-off with a world-class field set to compete over the seven-stage race. Top of the bill is Chris Froome (Team Ineos), with the four-time Tour de France winner returning to racing for the first time since his career-threatening crash at last year’s Critérium du Dauphiné.

Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) emerged victorious after a high-speed and aggressive sprint on the opening stage of the UAE Tour.

The German rider opened his sprint early to punch his way through to the front as his rivals fought for position and a clear run at the line. He then used his speed to hold the centre of the road and had the power to win and celebrate a hugely important victory against many of the best sprinters in the peloton.

Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) was second and Frenchman Rudy Barbier (Israel Start-Up Nation) was third. Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) came up late to finish fourth but Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) and Mark Cavendish (Bahrain McLaren) were out of the top ten after struggling to find their way past their rivals.

Thanks to his victory, Ackermann pulled on the red jersey as the first leader of the week-long UAE Tour.

“I’m super happy with this victory because almost all the top sprinters are here and I wasn’t sure if my shape was good enough to beat them all,” Ackermann said soon after the finish.

“Now I know that my shape is good and we can take it easy the next few days and have a look at what goes on during the week.

“It was a really hectic and nervous sprint in which I was jumping from one guy’s wheel to another one. I was swimming from one guy to the next one but when I saw my chance I told myself to go. I took my chance at the right time. Everyone was really strong. I surprised them by starting my sprint with 300 metres to go.”

Ackermann will wear the red jersey for Monday’s second stage to Hatta Dam. The 168km stage includes rolling climbs for much of the day, making it unlikely the sprinters will be able to contest the charge up the 12 per cent climb to the edge of the huge reservoir.

How it unfolded

The riders were in a relaxed mood as they signed on at the waterfront Point resort on the Palm Jumeirah on the man-made island off the coast of Dubai. Perhaps the most nervous was Chris Froome as he made his return to racing but he would finish safely in the peloton, happy to be back racing after eight months out due to injury.

The 148km stage was flat and switched back and forth on wide desert roads behind the Dubai skyscrapers. The peloton was happy to let an early break go clear and Nikolay Cherkasov, Cristian Scaroni (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Leonardo Tortomasi and Veljko Stojnic (Vini Zabù – KTM) jumped away to fight for the intermediate time bonuses and minor jerseys. They quickly opened a three-minute lead but then riders from UAE Team Emirates, Deceuninck-QuickStep and Lotto Soudal all helped to control the breakaway for their sprinters.

There was some wind blowing from the north but the 20km/h desert breeze was not enough to split the peloton and spark echelons. However, it made for a hard day out, with much of the stage into a cross or headwind

Stojnic won the first intermediate sprint after 46km and then Tortomasi jumped away to take maximum points at the second intermediate sprint. However, it was his younger teammate and neo-pro that would pull on the special black jersey.

With 30km to go the break began to fall apart with first Scaroni dropping back and then Stojnic. The peloton let the pother two riders hang out front on a long straight road into the headwind.

The catch only came with 14km to go as the race turned left and the peloton finally had the wind at their backs. The speed rose and the sprint teams swarmed on the front. Suddenly it was a fight for position. Tony Martin tired to keep Jumbo-Visma on the left along the barriers as other teams moved up in the wind on their right. Deceuninck-QuickStep dragged Bennett up and Bahrain McLaren did the same for Cavendish as the kilometres ticked down and the speed rose. Team Sunweb were riding for Alberto Dainese and Mitchelton-Scott and Israel Start-Up Nation then came late with their sprinters Luka Mezgec and Rudy Berbier in tow. However, the pack reshuffled again and again, making it impossible for one team to control and lead out the sprint. Even Deceuninck-QuickStep fell apart and lost position.

Ackermann had one Bora-Hansgrohe teammate to help him and managed to find the sweet spot near the front and on the right wheels. When the finish appeared in view with 300 metres to go, he decided to go early. He avoided the chaos and fight for the wheels and had a clean run at the line, while others were forced towards the barriers and out of contention.

Ackermann had the speed to go all the way to the line and celebrated his first WorldTour win of the 2020 season. All the other big-name sprinters would have to wait for another chance and the next high-speed sprint finish.

Results :
1 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 3:29:19
2 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
3 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
4 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
5 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott
6 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team Sunweb
7 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team
8 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) NTT Pro Cycling
9 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
10 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R la Mondiale
11 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
12 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
13 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-Quickstep
14 Kaden Groves (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
15 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Bahrain McLaren
16 Attilio Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
17 Imerio Cima (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
18 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
19 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
20 Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) UAE Team Emirates
21 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep
22 Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates
23 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
24 Michael Carbel Svendgaard (Den) NTT Pro Cycling
25 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
26 Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain McLaren
27 Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb
28 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
29 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
30 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
31 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team
32 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
33 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Start-Up Nation
34 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
35 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Movistar Team
36 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
37 Stefan De Bod (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
38 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) CCC Team
39 Davide Formolo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
40 Danilo Wyss (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
41 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
42 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
43 Victor De la Parte (Spa) CCC Team
44 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
45 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
46 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
47 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Cofidis
48 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
49 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
50 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
51 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
52 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
53 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
54 Sergei Chernetskii (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
55 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-Quickstep
56 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
57 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
58 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
59 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Team Ineos
60 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain McLaren
61 Iñigo Elosegui Momeñe (Spa) Movistar Team
62 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
63 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
64 Tosh Van der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
65 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
66 Jaakko Hanninen (Fin) AG2R la Mondiale
67 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
68 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) AG2R la Mondiale
69 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal
70 Andrey Amador (CRc) Team Ineos
71 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos
72 Kamil Gradek (Pol) CCC Team
73 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
74 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Bahrain McLaren
75 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
76 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-Quickstep
77 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
78 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb
79 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
80 Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott
81 Umberto Marengo (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
82 Jay Thomson (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
83 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Astana Pro Team
84 Hernando Bohorquez Sanchez (Col) Astana Pro Team
85 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
86 Steff Cras (Bel) Lotto Soudal
87 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Ineos
88 Leonardo Tortomasi (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
89 Vladislav Kulikov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
90 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
91 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
92 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
93 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Ineos
94 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Bahrain McLaren
95 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
96 James Mitri (NZl) Vini Zabu’ KTM
97 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
98 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
99 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb
100 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis
101 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
102 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
103 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) CCC Team
104 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
105 Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Team
106 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep
107 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
108 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana Pro Team
109 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis
110 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Israel Start-Up Nation
111 Veljko Stojnic (Srb) Vini Zabu’ KTM
112 Andrea Garosio (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
113 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
114 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis
115 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Ineos
116 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal
117 Charles Quarterman (GBr) Trek-Segafredo
118 William Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
119 Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team
120 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team
121 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
122 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
123 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
124 Albert Torres Barcelo (Spa) Movistar Team
125 Francisco Jose Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) CCC Team
126 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
127 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:00:20
128 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
129 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:30
130 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:43
131 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) NTT Pro Cycling 0:01:06
132 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
133 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
134 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
135 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:01:27
136 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:52
137 Cristian Scaroni (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
138 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bahrain McLaren 0:01:58
139 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:02:02
140 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:03:22

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 3:29:09
2 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:00:04
3 Veljko Stojnic (Srb) Vini Zabu’ KTM 0:00:05
4 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:00:06
5 Leonardo Tortomasi (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
6 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:00:07
7 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:10
8 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott
9 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team Sunweb
10 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team
11 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) NTT Pro Cycling
12 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
13 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R la Mondiale
14 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
15 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
16 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-Quickstep
17 Kaden Groves (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
18 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Bahrain McLaren
19 Attilio Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
20 Imerio Cima (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
21 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
22 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
23 Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) UAE Team Emirates
24 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep
25 Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates
26 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
27 Michael Carbel Svendgaard (Den) NTT Pro Cycling
28 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
29 Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain McLaren
30 Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb
31 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
32 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
33 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
34 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team
35 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
36 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Start-Up Nation
37 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
38 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Movistar Team
39 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
40 Stefan De Bod (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
41 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) CCC Team
42 Davide Formolo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
43 Danilo Wyss (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
44 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
45 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
46 Victor De la Parte (Spa) CCC Team
47 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
48 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
49 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
50 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Cofidis
51 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
52 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
53 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
54 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
55 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
56 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
57 Sergei Chernetskii (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
58 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-Quickstep
59 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
60 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
61 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
62 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Team Ineos
63 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain McLaren
64 Iñigo Elosegui Momeñe (Spa) Movistar Team
65 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
66 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
67 Tosh Van der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
68 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
69 Jaakko Hanninen (Fin) AG2R la Mondiale
70 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
71 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) AG2R la Mondiale
72 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal
73 Andrey Amador (CRc) Team Ineos
74 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos
75 Kamil Gradek (Pol) CCC Team
76 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
77 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Bahrain McLaren
78 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
79 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-Quickstep
80 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
81 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb
82 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
83 Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott
84 Umberto Marengo (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
85 Jay Thomson (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
86 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Astana Pro Team
87 Hernando Bohorquez Sanchez (Col) Astana Pro Team
88 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
89 Steff Cras (Bel) Lotto Soudal
90 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Ineos
91 Vladislav Kulikov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
92 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
93 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
94 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
95 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Ineos
96 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Bahrain McLaren
97 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
98 James Mitri (NZl) Vini Zabu’ KTM
99 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
100 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
101 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb
102 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis
103 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
104 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
105 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) CCC Team
106 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
107 Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Team
108 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep
109 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
110 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana Pro Team
111 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis
112 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Israel Start-Up Nation
113 Andrea Garosio (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
114 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
115 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis
116 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Ineos
117 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal
118 Charles Quarterman (GBr) Trek-Segafredo
119 William Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
120 Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team
121 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team
122 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
123 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
124 Albert Torres Barcelo (Spa) Movistar Team
125 Francisco Jose Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) CCC Team
126 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
127 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:00:30
128 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
129 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:40
130 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:53
131 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) NTT Pro Cycling 0:01:16
132 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
133 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
134 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
135 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:01:37
136 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:02
137 Cristian Scaroni (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
138 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bahrain McLaren 0:02:08
139 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:02:12
140 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:03:32