Dubai Tour: Kittel takes stage 1 sprint

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Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) opened his account on stage 1 of the Dubai Tour with a comprehensive victory over his sprint rivals.

The German was delivered perfectly to the line by his teammates and opened his sprint with 150 meters to go. Dylan Groenewegen (Lotto Jumbo NL) was on Kittel’s rear wheel but was unable to come around, while Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) was forced to settle for third after a late puncture.

Kittel, who won the overall title in Dubai last year, leads the race with four more stages remaining.

The pan-flat course was always designed with the world’s best sprinters in mind and, with Kittel, Cavendish, John Degenkolb and Elia Viviani all on the start list, there was little chance in a break succeeding.

Nevertheless, a five-man move steamed clear in the opening kilometres with Daniel Pearson (Aqua Blue Sport), Nicola Boem (Bardiani), Silvan Dillier (BMC), Thomas Stewart (One Pro Cycling) and Matteo Bono (UAE Abu Dhabi) building up a lead of close to five minutes after 50 kilometres of racing.

For the majority of the peloton this was their first race of the season and there was little appetite to chase in the opening hours of action. Dimension Data, Quick-Step Floors and Team Sky posted men at the front in order to keep the break in check, but when Boem sat up the peloton’s duties became even easier.

As the stage wore on Quick-Step intensified the chase with Bob Jungels doing the lion-share of the work on the front. The Luxembourg rider was present until the final five kilometres, and helped lay the groundwork for Kittel’s first win of 2017.

The catch was made with 10 kilometres remaining, with rival sprint trains looking to put their winter training to good use. With Jungels an almost constant presence on the front, Kittel’s cadre could afford to sit back. They managed to avoid two crashes inside the closing 20 kilometres and with five remaining they began to swamp the front of the peloton.

Dimension Data were well represented too, while UAE, Bahrain Merida, and Team Sky fought to get back on terms. As the race swung around a tight corner for the final straight three kilometres Quick-Step’s dominance became apparent as the rest of the sprinters, including Cavendish sought Kittel’s wheel. Adam Blythe glued himself to Cavendish, while Groenewegen, Viviani and Degenkolb moved into the mix.

However, once Kittel’s lead-out opened up for the line there was little any of the other sprinters could do. One after another, Kittel’s teammates pulled off the front and with the line in sight the German had his first victory of the season wrapped up. The Belgian team, who are looking for a sponsor for 2018 has seven wins already this year.

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