Marcel Kittel pumps his fist in joy after winning the opening stage of the Dubai Tour (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) surged to victory on the opening stage of the Dubai Tour, backing up a commanding performance by his team in the final kilometres. The win was Kittel’s first of the season but the seventh for his Belgian team after they started so well in Argentina earlier this month.
Kittel held off a challenge from LottoNL-Jumbo rider Dylan Groenewegen and Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data), who had a puncture after hitting a pothole in the closing kilometres.
A five-man break got away early on, but the chance that they would make it to the line was minimal with the top sprinters’ teams keen to test their trains early in the season.
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