Dennis takes Abu Dhabi lead after time trial victory

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Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing) surged into the overall lead at the Abu Dhabi Tour after taking victory in the key time trial on stage 4. The Australian completed the 12.6km course in a time of 14:21, some 14 seconds quicker than his closest rival Jonathan Castroviejo (Team Sky), while his teammate Miles Scotson finished third a further two seconds back.

Dennis now leads Castroviejo in the overall standings by the same margin he beat him by in the time trial. World champion Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) was one of the favourites going into the stage but suffered a mechanical, which was fatal to his chances of victory.

After three straight days for the sprinters, the overall classification was game for almost anyone with a decent time trial in their arsenal. Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) would roll out last as the race leader, but his advantage over much of the pack was 13 seconds and he would have to pull out the effort of his life to retain the red jersey.

Team Sunweb set the early benchmark, with Nikias Arndt going around the course in a time of 14:43, beating the likes of Alex Dowsett (Katusha-Alpecin) as he crossed the line. He would enjoy almost half an hour in the hot seat before Scotson came in and booted him off. Dennis set off while Scotson was still out on course and there was little time to get comfortable for the young Australian before he too was bumped down a spot in the standings as Dennis went 16 seconds quicker.

With some strong time triallists still to test their mettle on the sweeping, fast course, a victory was not certain and Dennis would have to sit and wait while many tried and failed to oust him. Spanish champion Castroviejo came close, but still fell 14 seconds short.

Dumoulin looked like the only serious challenger for Dennis and was a second up on the BMC Racing rider at the first intermediate check. But then it all went wrong for the world champion when he had to swap bikes because of a mechanical issue. The frustration was clear as he moved to the left of the road to pick up his new machine and he let out a yell as he threw his arms up. He was quickly back on his bike but, with such short time trial, he was never going to make up the time lost and he was unable to even make the top 10.

With Dumoulin out of the running, Dennis could relax and it was merely a case of waiting for the others to finish before he could step up and claim his red jersey. Thanks to his efforts, Scotson moved into the lead of the young rider’s classification.

Dennis will have to defend his jersey on the final stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour to Jebel Hafeet, a 10.8km climb that averages just over six per cent. 

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