Abu Dhabi Tour: Kristoff wins opening stage

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Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) came out on top on stage 1 of the Abu Dhabi Tour. The European road champion came off Caleb Ewan's (Mitchelton-Scott) wheel in the final 100 metres and held off a late challenge from Andrea Guardini (Bardiani CSF).

Ewan looked to have the win in the bag but faded to third on the stage.

Kristoff looked out of it with 200m to go but jumped from behind Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin) onto Ewan's tail before powering to the line. Despite a headwind, the Norwegian had enough in the tank to take the win by a clear margin.

Kittel, who came into the race without a win so far this season, looked well-placed but was crowded out in the sprint and went backwards as the rest of the fast-men opened up towards the line.

Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) crashed out of the race in the neutralized zone, suffering concussion and whiplash. The British sprinter remounted and carried on for the opening few kilometres before pulling out of the race.

Kristoff, who also won the final stage of the Tour of Oman, leads the race going into stage 2.

"In the final I lost my rhythm and I lost [lead-out man Robertro] Ferrari, but then I found Caleb Ewan in the end and I know he's fast," Kristoff said at the finish. "He started to really go for the sprint but I was in the draft and then managed to come round and hold on in the headwind all the way to the line.

"It's a great win for me and the team, on home ground. It takes the pressure off now and it's a really nice feeling. I'm really proud to get the win, my second win of the season. It's a great feeling to start off like this in a new team."

Cavendish's fall overshadowed the opening of the stage. The Dimension Data rider came down when the official race car appeared to tap on the brakes. This caused several riders to slow, with Cavendish one of the first to hit the ground. He gingerly got to his feet and briefly carried on before pulling over to the side of the road and leaving the race.

When the race flag did drop, however, there was no shortage of attacks and Nikolay Trusov (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Damiano Caruso (BMC Racing Team), Vincenzo Albanese (Bardiani CSF), Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) and Charles Planet (Team Novo Nordisk) slipped clear.

The quintet never established a threatening lead, with the sprinters' teams controlling the race throughout.

Skujins attacked before second intermediate sprint with 60km to go but the break regrouped less than 10km later with their advantage down to 1:31. Albanese, Caruso, Skujins, and Planet left Trusov as the peloton began to mount a faster chase, with Quick-Step Floors neo-pro James Knox a constant presence on the front of the bunch.

Caruso was the last man standing when he left Planet with 20km to go but even the talented Italian couldn't hold off the inevitable. With 13km to go the bunch was one, although the pace eased as the sprint teams began to organise their affairs.

LottoNL-Jumbo and Quick-Step were heavily involved in the finale but, despite a fragmented lead-out, it was Kristoff who claimed his second win in two race days.

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