UAE Tour 2022 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

February 21, 2022

UAE Tour 2022 – Stage 2 – Hudayriyat Island – Abu Dhabi Breakwater : 176 km

The men’s WorldTour season will finally get underway this Sunday with the 4th edition of the UAE Tour – a seven-day stage race born from the ashes of former races like the Abu Dhabi Tour and Dubai Tour. With a star-studded startlist, two summit finishes and one pivotal individual time trial, this year’s UAE Tour promises to be one of the most hotly-contested editions yet and an ideal testing ground for riders like Tadej Pogačar, Adam Yates and Aleksandr Vlasov to find their form ahead of this season’s Grand Tours. The question is, who will come out on top and crown themselves King of the Middle East? The UAE Tour may only be in its infancy but it has already managed to establish itself as one of the most well-rounded, week-long stage races on the calendar, with days for the sprinters, climbers and time trialists. It has also not taken long for several of the race’s most popular finishes, like the mountaintop finish on Jebel Hafeet, to become rather iconic. For a race that is ‘supposedly’ just a mix of super highways, bland mountain passes and expansive deserts, the UAE Tour routinely delivers a surprising amount of drama.

Mark Cavendish (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) claimed a storming sprint victory on stage 2 of the UAE Tour, holding off stage 1 winner Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) in a rapid run to the line at Abu Dhabi breakwater.

Despite the headwind sprint, Cavendish hit out early and it paid off. He burst into the lead as Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) was being led out, and the Irishman then found himself boxed in and unable to sprint.

Philipsen, in the red leader’s jersey, came up late and and gave Cavendish a good run for his money but the QuickStep-Alpha-Vinyl sprinter, making the most of his low aerodynamic position, held on to win by half a wheel.

Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) claimed the final spot on the podium but there was clear daylight behind Cavendish and Philipsen, who kept the leader’s red jersey.

“I’m just happy,” said Cavendish who picked up his second win of the season and the 158th win of his long career, after a stage of the Tour of Oman last week.

“I knew we could win here but it’s more so the way the team worked today. A third of the team here are first-year pros but today they rode like seasoned professionals. The job was to get me to the final as fresh as possible and they did it so well that I could go for 300-250 metres into a headwind. That’s usually too far, but they delivered me so far I knew I’d have energy to keep it to the line.”

On a day where the wind often threatened but never had an impact on the race, Cavendish’s QuickStep-AlphaVinyl teammates did not take a commanding role as big lead-out trains jostled for the front on the wide boulevards of the final kilometres. However, they got their man to the front when it mattered most.

Cavendish wasn’t actually in the wheel of his lead-out man Michael Morkov when the Dane hit the front in the final 500 metres, before looking around and peeling off to force Bennett’s lead-out man, Danny van Poppel onto the front. But at that point, Cavendish decided to open up and stormed past through a gap and a slight left-hand bend, which effectively left Bennett trapped on the inside behind his own lead-out.

Philipsen started sprinting at the same time as Cavendish, thinking along the same lines and finding a way through on the right. He came at Cavendish with high speed and gained on him all the way to the line, but his nemesis from last year’s Tour de France refused to fade and could raise his arms in celebration once again.

How it unfolded
The 176km stage started on the Hudayriat Island off Abu Dhabi, and headed into the desert and suburb of Abu Dhabi before returning for a finish by the nearby Abu Dhabi breakwater. The flat stage profile always lent itself to a full bunch finish, but the wind was up and so was the anticipation of splits and echelons.

A tailwind accompanied them out of town and the first turn into crosswinds on exposed terrain brought a big surge in pace. Ineos Grenadiers, BikeExchange-Jayco, and Groupama-FDJ helped raise the pace to 65km/h and succeeded in splitting the field, with a group of 30 clipping off the front.

It didn’t last, and the peloton reformed, but it did flare up again several kilometres later. Once more, a push from a few teams, with the wind now coming from the left, stretched the bunch to breaking point but with no lasting consequences.

Each surge saw the gap to the day’s early three-man breakaway slashed, before the lulls allowed them to set about rebuilding their advantage. Curiously the break was an all-Gazprom-RusVelo affair, with the Russian team sending Michael Kukrle, Dmitriy Strakhov, and Pavel Kochetkov up the road. They took their lead out to three minutes once things had settled down with 85km to go.

As he did at the early intermediate sprint, Strakhov crossed first at the second one with 40km to go to extend his lead in the black jersey classification. Soon after, the trio sat up and were absorbed by the peloton.

From there, the race entered a relaxed phase as they rode into a strong headwind blowing across the exposed Al Jubail island. At one point, the pace was so slow that Philipsen dismounted and started running with his bike alongside the bunch. The organisers might not have appreciated their race leader showing just how slow and uneventful the race was at that point, but it nevertheless went far and wide on social media.

Things did pick up when the peloton turned onto the coast in the final 15km but it was soon apparent that the wind would have no real impact on the day and that it would be a traditional bunch sprint run-in.

The four-land boulevard offered ample room for lead-out trains to assemble, and it was Israel-Premier Tech and BikeExchange-Jayco who set up on opposite sides in the final two kilometres. Bora-Hansgrohe then turned up and muscled their way right into the middle of the BikeExchange train, much to the annoyance of Dylan Groenwegen’s men.

They were all battling for the lead into a sweeping right-hand bend with 1400m to go, and Israel and BikeExchange and Bora-Hansgrohe went side by side into it.

BikeExchange took it up as Bora-Hansgrohe then moved out to form their own line, but Arnaud Demare’s Groupama-FDJ team then moved up on the left. Meanwhile, Cavendish was being piloted through the middle, eventually settling on Bennett’s wheel as Morkov hit the front.

Morkov looked around, wisely pulled off, and Cavendish thought on his feet, sensing an opportunity. It was a considerable risk, but he clearly had the speed and strength to make it pay.

Results :
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 4:20:45
2 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
3 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) UAE Team Emirates
4 Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
5 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
6 Matteo Malucelli (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
7 Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
8 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
9 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Lotto Soudal
10 Marijn van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
11 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
12 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-EasyPost
13 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
14 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) BikeExchange-Jayco
15 Max Kanter (Ger) Movistar Team
16 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe
17 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
18 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
19 Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education-EasyPost
20 Robert Stannard (Aus) Alpecin-Fenix
21 Gino Mäder (Swi) Bahrain Victorious
22 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team DSM
23 Johnatan Cañaveral Vargas (Col) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
24 Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
25 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
26 Mathias Vacek (Cze) Gazprom-Rusvelo
27 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates
28 Kaden Groves (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco
29 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
30 Stefan Bissegger (Swi) EF Education-EasyPost
31 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
32 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Lotto Soudal
33 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
34 João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates
35 Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia (Spa) Bahrain Victorious
36 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Bora-Hansgrohe
37 Stan Van Tricht (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
38 Thymen Arensman (Ned) Team DSM
39 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
40 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
41 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
42 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
43 Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
44 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Team DSM
45 Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
46 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
47 Chris Harper (Aus) Jumbo-Visma
48 Luca Rastelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
49 Jonathan Milan (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
50 Jai Hindley (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
51 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
52 Xandres Vervloesem (Bel) Lotto Soudal
53 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
54 Vadim Pronskiy (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
55 David de la Cruz (Spa) Astana Qazaqstan Team
56 Rafal Majka (Pol) UAE Team Emirates
57 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix
58 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
59 Yuriy Natarov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
60 Bob Jungels (Lux) AG2R Citroen Team
61 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-EasyPost
62 Jan Hirt (Cze) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
63 Merhawi Kudus Ghebremedhin (Eri) EF Education-EasyPost
64 Timo Roosen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
65 Alejandro Osorio Carvajal (Col) Bahrain Victorious
66 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM
67 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
68 Stefan De Bod (RSA) Astana Qazaqstan Team
69 Lucas Plapp (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
70 George Bennett (NZl) UAE Team Emirates
71 Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
72 Samuele Zoccarato (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
73 Marc Sarreau (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
74 Taj Jones (Aus) Israel Start-Up Nation
75 William Barta (USA) Movistar Team
76 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
77 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
78 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain Victorious
79 Julius Johansen (Den) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
80 Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM
81 Simon Pellaud (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
82 Sebastian Berwick (Aus) Israel Start-Up Nation
83 Michael Kukrle (Cze) Gazprom-Rusvelo
84 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Movistar Team
85 Paul Lapeira (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
86 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Movistar Team
87 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
88 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team
89 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Astana Qazaqstan Team
90 Mathias Norsgaard (Den) Movistar Team
91 Stijn Steels (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
92 Filip Maciejuk (Pol) Bahrain Victorious
93 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
94 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
95 Luka Mezgec (Slo) BikeExchange-Jayco
96 Clément Berthet (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
97 Shane Archbold (NZl) Bora-Hansgrohe
98 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
99 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
100 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM
101 Jakob Egholm (Den) Trek-Segafredo
102 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
103 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
104 Albert Torres Barcelo (Spa) Movistar Team
105 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
106 Jarrad Drizners (Aus) Lotto Soudal
107 Damien Howson (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco
108 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
109 Marc Brustenga (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
110 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
111 Jos van Emden (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
112 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:00:52
113 Campbell Stewart (NZl) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:01:02
114 Kelland O’Brien (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:01:09
115 Ethan Vernon (GBr) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:01:16
116 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team DSM 0:01:24
117 Sam Bewley (NZl) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:01:27
118 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
119 Daryl Impey (RSA) Israel Start-Up Nation
120 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
121 Andrey Amador (CRc) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:43
122 Johan Price Pejtersen (Den) Bahrain Victorious 0:01:53
123 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates
124 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
125 Clément Davy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:05:03

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 9:03:03
2 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:00:04
3 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:00:06
4 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:10
5 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:12
6 Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
7 Michael Kukrle (Cze) Gazprom-Rusvelo
8 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
9 Xandres Vervloesem (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:14
10 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:16
11 Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
12 Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
13 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
14 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) BikeExchange-Jayco
15 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
16 Max Kanter (Ger) Movistar Team
17 Marijn van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
18 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Lotto Soudal
19 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe
20 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-EasyPost
21 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
22 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
23 Johnatan Cañaveral Vargas (Col) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
24 Stefan Bissegger (Swi) EF Education-EasyPost
25 Robert Stannard (Aus) Alpecin-Fenix
26 Jonathan Milan (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
27 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team DSM
28 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
29 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
30 Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education-EasyPost
31 Gino Mäder (Swi) Bahrain Victorious
32 Mathias Vacek (Cze) Gazprom-Rusvelo
33 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
34 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates
35 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
36 Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
37 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
38 Jai Hindley (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
39 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix
40 João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates
41 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Lotto Soudal
42 Marc Sarreau (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
43 Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
44 Timo Roosen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
45 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
46 Thymen Arensman (Ned) Team DSM
47 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Bora-Hansgrohe
48 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
49 Yuriy Natarov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
50 Chris Harper (Aus) Jumbo-Visma
51 Merhawi Kudus Ghebremedhin (Eri) EF Education-EasyPost
52 Matteo Malucelli (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
53 Jan Hirt (Cze) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
54 David de la Cruz (Spa) Astana Qazaqstan Team
55 Vadim Pronskiy (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
56 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-EasyPost
57 Paul Lapeira (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
58 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
59 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
60 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Astana Qazaqstan Team
61 Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia (Spa) Bahrain Victorious
62 Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
63 Luka Mezgec (Slo) BikeExchange-Jayco
64 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team
65 Rafal Majka (Pol) UAE Team Emirates
66 Marc Brustenga (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
67 Stefan De Bod (RSA) Astana Qazaqstan Team
68 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
69 Shane Archbold (NZl) Bora-Hansgrohe
70 Samuele Zoccarato (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
71 Julius Johansen (Den) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
72 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
73 Stan Van Tricht (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
74 Bob Jungels (Lux) AG2R Citroen Team
75 Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM
76 William Barta (USA) Movistar Team
77 George Bennett (NZl) UAE Team Emirates
78 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Team DSM
79 Simon Pellaud (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
80 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
81 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
82 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Movistar Team
83 Alejandro Osorio Carvajal (Col) Bahrain Victorious
84 Luca Rastelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
85 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Movistar Team
86 Clément Berthet (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
87 Sebastian Berwick (Aus) Israel Start-Up Nation
88 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain Victorious
89 Filip Maciejuk (Pol) Bahrain Victorious
90 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
91 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
92 Mathias Norsgaard (Den) Movistar Team
93 Taj Jones (Aus) Israel Start-Up Nation
94 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
95 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
96 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
97 Jakob Egholm (Den) Trek-Segafredo
98 Albert Torres Barcelo (Spa) Movistar Team
99 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
100 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
101 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM
102 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
103 Jarrad Drizners (Aus) Lotto Soudal
104 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
105 Jos van Emden (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
106 Kaden Groves (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:00:34
107 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:35
108 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM
109 Lucas Plapp (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
110 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:01:08
111 Stijn Steels (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
112 Campbell Stewart (NZl) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:01:18
113 Kelland O’Brien (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:01:25
114 Ethan Vernon (GBr) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:01:32
115 Damien Howson (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:01:38
116 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team DSM 0:01:40
117 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:01:41
118 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:43
119 Andrey Amador (CRc) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:59
120 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers 0:02:09
121 Daryl Impey (RSA) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:02:22
122 Johan Price Pejtersen (Den) Bahrain Victorious 0:03:33
123 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates
124 Sam Bewley (NZl) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:03:46
125 Clément Davy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:05:19