Abu Dhabi: Marcel Kittel wins stage 2

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Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) snatched victory from Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) and Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) at the end of a fast second stage at the Abu Dhabi Tour, coming from behind in the sprint to beat them both to the line with a desperate but decisive bike throw.

Ewan thought he had won, raising his arms as he hit the line but Kittel came up quickly on his right and won by less than half a wheel. He let out a roar in celebration, punching the air, after a tense 24 hours following his crash on stage 1 and the polemics over him using disc brakes. Out of respect for his fellow riders Kittel opted to use a normal bike during stage 2, with the change clearly not affecting him.

Matteo Pelucchi (Bora-hansgrohe) was fourth, with Phil Bauhaus (Team Sunweb) fifth and Elia Viviani (Team Sky) sixth.

"I think this is a very beautiful moment. Yesterday we lost not only the stage victory but also some skin... Today I had another chance, I was very motivated and I'm very happy now,” Kittel said at the finish.

The different sprinters and their teams opted for different strategies for the fast finish. Dimension Data led Cavendish into the final kilometre and then he skilfully jumped on Ewan’s wheel after Orica-Scott took control before the final curve into finishing straight. The young Australian kicked hard and managed to hold off the Manxman’s effort but Kittel surged up this right side as the line approached, using his huge power and speed.

“Our plan was to come at the last moment to the front, I think we did it very well, almost too late...” Kittel joked.

“I was in the wheel which was a real advantage, because all the sprinters were alone and I had to jump from wheel to wheel. On the right there was the best probability to jump to the front and when I saw it, I went all in. I could see I was going faster than the rest but I was not sure if that was enough to cross the line first. It’s very nice to win like that."

Cavendish kept the race lead thanks to taking a four-second bonus for third place. He leads Kittel by four seconds, with Andre Greipel third overall at eight seconds. However the overall classification will be shaken up dramatically on Saturday as the overall contenders fight for overall victory on the 10km climb and mountain finish at Jebel Hafeet.

A risk of echelons makes for a fast stage

The risk of side winds and echelons sparked a fast second stage, with the riders covering the 153km at over 44km/h.

The stage covered a loop out of Abu Dhabi and the islands north of the city, with the riders expecting the wind to strengthen as they covered the exposed road between the islands and the finish in the shadow of the huge Abu Dhabi flag.

Yet again the early break was quickly formed with Nicola Boem (Bardiani – CSF), Fabio Calabria (Novo Nordisk), Marco Canola (Nippo – Vini Fantini), Alessandro De Marchi (BMC), Kristijan Durasek (UAE Team Emirates) and Kirill Sveshnikov (Gazprom–RusVelo) in the move.

On Thursday the sprinters’ teams were forced to make a determined chase but this time they kept the attackers under control and their lead rarely moved past two minutes. Canola took both intermediate sprints and took the black sprints jersey from Manuele Mori (UAE Team Emirates).

The break tried to use the wind to their advantage and dug deep but the peloton played cat and mouse on the exposed road to the new Louvre museum. The sprinters did not want to miss out on a chance of victory.

The peloton eventually caught Boem and de Marchi with 2.5km to go and the leadout trains took control. Cavendish won on the same finish last year and his Dimension Data team took him through the two sweeping corners in the last kilometre.
New South Africa national champion Reinardt Janse van Rensburg led Mark Renshaw and Cavendish. When he moved over, Renshaw dropped off Cavendish and he fought to hold Ewan’s wheel. It was the right place to be and Cavendish kicked hard in sight of the line.

However Ewan was equally as strong and thought he’d done enough to win. Kittel moved up on the more exposed right, using his immense power to first come up alongside Ewan and then beat him with a final bike throw as the Australian began his celebrations just that little too early.

Saturday’s third stage is over 186km and will offer a completely different but equally thrilling race. The stage starts inland, in the oasis town in Al Ain, covering a long loop on flat roads before the 10km climb to the finish at Jebel Hafeet.

The climb is constant at 8 per cent, and wide, making it difficult to get away. The gradient eases in the final two kilometres but the last corner is also vital and will decide the winner of the stage.

The climb will reveal who is the strongest amongst the Grand Tour specialists such as Nibali, Contador, Quintana, Dumoulin et al. They will fight for the stage victory, overall success and WorldTour points.

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