The sprint stages of the Abu Dhabi Tour weren’t meant to be of much consequence to the Trek-Segafredo team, who are instead waiting patiently for the GC showdown on stage 3, but Alberto Contador and his teammates found themselves in full train formation in the closing phases of the opening stage.
They weren’t winding it up at the head of the race, but frantically trying to rejoin the peloton from behind after both of their leaders here, Contador and Bauke Mollema, hit the deck in a crash with five kilometres remaining.
Contador jumped on Julien Bernard’s bike and the whole squad busted a gut to get back in the frame, only for another crash to disrupt their progress with around one kilometre remaining.
All riders were eventually given the same time, and neither Contador nor Mollema appeared to have been seriously hurt.
"With a bit of luck there are no consequences," Contador told Cyclingnews at the team bus. "All good – just my throat," he added, referring to the minor respiratory problems riders are prone to picking up in heavily air-conditioned hotels.
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