UAE Tour 2022 – Stage 6 [LAST 10 KM]

February 25, 2022

UAE Tour 2022 – Stage 6 – Expo 2020 Dubai – Expo 2020 Dubai : 180 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.

Mathias Vacek won stage six of the UAE Tour after the peloton failed to bring back the day’s breakaway by just 15 seconds.

The nineteen-year-old was one of three Gazprom-RusVelo in a six-man breakaway, and proved quickest in the sprint, where he beat Paul Lapeira (Ag2r Citroen) with his teammate Dmitry Strakhov third.

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) won the bunch sprint ahead of Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange-Jayco) for sixth place 15 seconds behind Vacek, with Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) nestled safely in the group to defend his overall lead before Saturday’s decisive Jebel Hafeet mountain finish.

As a nineteen-year-old second-year professional, previously without a senior win to his name, this was a huge moment in the career of Vacek. The Czech rider had an expression of disbelief as he celebrated with his Gazprom-RusVelo teammates after the line, and the result still hadn’t appeared to sink in when he spoke post-race.

“I still can’t believe it, it’s amazing. I’m still really young, nineteen-years-old, and this victory means so so much for me. So I still can’t believe it!” he said.

“I thought: today I will try to get into the breakaway, and see how it goes. I just wanted to have the black jersey [for the sprinters classification] for [teammate, Dmitry] Strakhov. At 100km we only have one minute but we pushed really hard, really really hard. And in the end I won the sprint. Unbelievable!”

“At 10km from the finish we still had 1:15, so at that moment I was focused 100% on the sprint and to take the stage win.”

Given the simplicity of the 180km stage route around the suburbs and skyscrapers of Dubai, which featured no climbs, with no cross winds, the sprinters’ teams will be kicking themselves at failing to bring back the break and missing out on a sprint win.

They appeared to have the break well under control for most of the day, with the deficit being brought back to under two minutes early on and remaining at little over one minute. But after reaching the 10km to go mark with a lead of 1:15, the momentum swung in favour of the breakaway.

The six men out front stubbornly refused to give up, and conceded only a handful of seconds each kilometre. By the time they reached 5km to go with a lead still of a minute, it became clear that the sprinters had lost their chance, and that the stage winner would instead come from the break.

With strength in numbers the pressure was now on Gazprom-RusVelo to make the most of the situation and deliver victory, especially when Jonathan Canaveral (Bardiani-CSF-Faizane) dropped back to give them a numerical advantage of three against two.

Kochetkov was the man who led the break into the final kilometre and led out the sprint and both Vacek and Strakhov made a sprint.

Asked at the finish whether he had been chosen by the team to sprint in the finale, Vacek revealed that their tactics were far less planned out.

“We didn’t have any tactics, we just wanted to go to the finish. We tried everybody to sprint, and I had the best sprint. Thanks also to the other guys from the team,” he said.

How it unfolded
The penultimate stage of the UAE Tour offered one last chance for the sprinters to win a stage prior to Saturday’s mountain top finish finale at Jebel Hafeet.

With calm conditions, little wind, and a more urban route heading out and back from the Expo site in Dubai that avoided the exposed desert roads of some of the previous stages, there was little to bother the riders protecting high positionson GC.

Six riders escaped up the road at the start of the day: Paul Lapeira (Ag2r Citroen), Johnatan Canaveral and Alessandro Tonelli (both Bardiani-CSF-Faizane), plus the Gazprom-RusVelo trio of Mathias Vacek, Pavel Kochetkov and Dmitry Strakhov.

The Gazprom RusVelo riders were tasked with defending Strakhov’s black jersey as leader of the intermediate sprints classification, and the Russian managed to extend his lead by winning the first of the day’s two intermediate sprints. Strakhov also managed to win the second intermediate sprint at the Atlantic hotel, 43km from the finish, against little resistance from the others in the group.

By this point the peloton’s deficit to the breakaway was little over one minute, having reached a maximum of nearly five minutes earlier in the day.

There was clearly no rush in the peloton to make the catch, and the gap still remained over a minute as the final ten kilometres approached. Canaveral dropped out of the break and back into the peloton, but the collective strength and cohesion of the five remaining riders left the peloton struggling to bring them back.

Teams including QuickStep-AlphaVinyl, Jumbo-Visma, Bora-Hansgrohe and Ineos Grenadiers eventually worked together at the front of the peloton, but it was too little too late, and the minute they still had to bring back in the final five kilometre proved too great.

To make matters worse, there was also a crash inside the bunch in the final kilometre. None of the main GC contenders appeared to be affected, however, meaning the fight for overall victory will be decided on the climactic stage at Jebel Hafeet.

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) still leads Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) by four seconds, with bigger overall threat Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) third at 14 seconds.

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

General Classification after Stage 6 :
1 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 22:18:02
2 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:04
3 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:14
4 Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:17
5 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-EasyPost 0:00:25
6 João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:30
7 Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia (Spa) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:37
8 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:40
9 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-EasyPost 0:00:42
10 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:00:43
11 Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM
12 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Team DSM 0:00:49
13 Jai Hindley (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
14 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:51
15 David de la Cruz (Spa) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:00:55
16 Rafal Majka (Pol) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:58
17 Jan Hirt (Cze) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
18 Gino Mäder (Swi) Bahrain Victorious 0:01:02
19 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:01:10
20 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:18
21 Sebastian Berwick (Aus) Israel-Premier Tech 0:01:20
22 Bob Jungels (Lux) AG2R Citroen Team 0:01:21
23 Stefan De Bod (RSA) Astana Qazaqstan Team
24 Chris Harper (Aus) Jumbo-Visma 0:01:22
25 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:01:30
26 Thymen Arensman (Ned) Team DSM 0:01:35
27 Lucas Plapp (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:45
28 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:01:51
29 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:18
30 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:02:28
31 Samuele Zoccarato (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:02:40
32 Daryl Impey (RSA) Israel-Premier Tech 0:03:25
33 Vadim Pronskiy (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:03:35
34 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain Victorious 0:03:40
35 Damien Howson (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:03:42
36 Merhawi Kudus Ghebremedhin (Eri) EF Education-EasyPost 0:03:52
37 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:03:54
38 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:04:22
39 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:04:24
40 Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:04:31
41 Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:04:53
42 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:05:12
43 Mathias Vacek (Cze) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:05:24
44 Stefan Bissegger (Swi) EF Education-EasyPost 0:05:28
45 Yuriy Natarov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:05:39
46 Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education-EasyPost 0:05:42
47 Alejandro Osorio Carvajal (Col) Bahrain Victorious 0:05:53
48 William Barta (USA) Movistar Team 0:05:55
49 George Bennett (NZl) UAE Team Emirates 0:05:59
50 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:06:04
51 Simon Pellaud (Swi) Trek-Segafredo 0:06:09
52 Michael Kukrle (Cze) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:06:10
53 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix 0:06:27
54 Jos van Emden (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:07:53
55 Mathias Norsgaard (Den) Movistar Team 0:08:43
56 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
57 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
58 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:08:46
59 Albert Torres Barcelo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:08:50
60 Timo Roosen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:08:54
61 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:08:59
62 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:09:14
63 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:09:36
64 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team 0:10:14
65 Xandres Vervloesem (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:10:35
66 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:11:18
67 Johnatan Cañaveral Vargas (Col) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:12:05
68 Filip Maciejuk (Pol) Bahrain Victorious 0:12:15
69 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:12:16
70 Paul Lapeira (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:12:25
71 Robert Stannard (Aus) Alpecin-Fenix 0:12:47
72 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team DSM 0:12:52
73 Clément Berthet (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:12:55
74 Marc Sarreau (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:13:40
75 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:13:58
76 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team DSM 0:14:33
77 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM 0:14:42
78 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:14:45
79 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel-Premier Tech 0:14:46
80 Andrey Amador (CRc) Ineos Grenadiers 0:14:47
81 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers 0:16:12
82 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix 0:16:14
83 Jonathan Milan (Ita) Bahrain Victorious 0:17:46
84 Marijn van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
85 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:17:47
86 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:17:53
87 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:17:56
88 Jarrad Drizners (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:18:10
89 Stan Van Tricht (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:18:11
90 Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 0:18:12
91 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM 0:18:15
92 Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:18:17
93 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
94 Luka Mezgec (Slo) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:18:18
95 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:18:19
96 Taj Jones (Aus) Israel-Premier Tech 0:18:25
97 Shane Archbold (NZl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:18:29
98 Luca Rastelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:18:44
99 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 0:18:55
100 Stijn Steels (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:19:06
101 Ethan Vernon (GBr) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:19:14
102 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ 0:20:43
103 Julius Johansen (Den) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:21:22
104 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:21:29
105 Kaden Groves (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:21:40
106 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:21:41
107 Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:21:47
108 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe
109 Max Kanter (Ger) Movistar Team 0:21:52
110 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:22:01
111 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel-Premier Tech 0:22:05
112 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost 0:22:12
113 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) UAE Team Emirates 0:22:23
114 Matteo Malucelli (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:22:31
115 Jakob Egholm (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:22:37
116 Campbell Stewart (NZl) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:22:40
117 Marc Brustenga (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:22:43
118 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:22:58
119 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates 0:23:06
120 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates 0:23:22
121 Kelland O’Brien (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:24:10
122 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel-Premier Tech 0:24:21
123 Clément Davy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:25:30
124 Johan Price Pejtersen (Den) Bahrain Victorious 0:30:28
125 Sam Bewley (NZl) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:30:37