Dubai Tour: Degenkolb wins at Hatta Dam

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As he collapsed on the tarmac gasping for breath, it was clear that John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) had given it everything on the final 17 per cent climb towards the Hatta Dam. The German struck out at the foot of the 300-metre ascent and raced his way into the leader’s jersey.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) made his move a fraction after Degenkolb but it was too late to bring him back, and had to settle for second. Valverde’s teammate Juan Jose Lobato followed his leader across the line to take third.

"It was a great stage today with a really tough final,” Degenkolb said after the stage. “We tried already in the last two days to go for the win but didn’t have the luck. Today it was important not to waste energy before the end and we did it in a smart way and kept enough riders as planned to put me into a perfect position for the finish.

“It’s great to start the season with a victory for myself and the team. I would really like to win this race now, it isn’t over yet though. We have to do a perfect stage tomorrow to win the jersey and we will have to be smart but we are ready for this.”

The final five kilometres of the stage were fraught with action as the major teams fought for control of the diminished peloton. Italian champion Vincenzo Nibali continued his role as super domestique, leading the group towards the final kilometre as he tried to position Alexey Lutsenko for the finish. After missing out on the previous two stages though, it was Giant-Alpecin who forced Nibali off the front under the flamme rouge.

Lutsenko did push himself to the fore, trying to attack the group as they neared the imposing final ramp to the finish line. The Kazakh rider soon faded though and Degenkolb forced his way around the outside of the bunch. He breezed past Lutsenko, as much as you can when you’re climbing a 17 per cent gradient, and established a crucial gap. He eventually crossed the line two seconds ahead of Valverde.

Degenkolb now leads the general classification by two seconds over Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep) but with a sprint stage still to come and bonus seconds available, it is still all to play for.

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How it happened

After the skyscrapers of the city, it was the turn of nature’s skyscrapers as the peloton rode out into the Hajar Mountains for the longest stage of the Dubai Tour. The 209-kilometre route brought the riders up to the border with Oman for the finish at the Hatta Dam.

The day’s break took time to form with five men eventually making it away after nearly 40 kilomtres of racing. The men out front were Luka Pibernik (Lampre-Merida), Mohamed Al Murawwi and Vladimir Gusev (Both Skydive Dubai),Martijn Verschoor (Novo Nordisk) and Alessandro Bazzana (UnitedHealthcare). The group was able to build an advantage of over nine minutes after 90 kilometres of racing.

Behind them the team of race leader Cavendish, Etixx-QuickStep led the chase along with Movistar who were heavily invested in the stage win with Valverde. Their efforts cut the lead down to just over two minutes and the numbers out front began to crumble. Al Murawwi was the first to go with Verschoor going soon afterwards with 50 kilometres to go.

The chase of the remaining trio out front was briefly disrupted several riders went down after catching a piece of carpet on the exit of a tunnel that had been laid down to cover a grid on the road, including Julien Vermote. The news was obviously quickly passed on and the subsequent pieces of carpet were removed. There was a further crash soon after as one of the Skydive Dubai riders overcooked it on a corner.

As the climbs came Cavendish found himself in trouble and slid out of the back of an ever dwindling peloton. His Etixx-QuickStep team rallied around, keeping the whole team around the race leader. A concerted effort from the Belgian team managed the damage and eventually brought the Manxman back in touch with the back of the peloton.

While Cavendish and his team were chasing the bunch, the pelotons pursuit of the races leaders was ended as they caught them with 33 kilometres remaining. There was a brief lull in the group, which likely assisted him in re-joining, before Francisco Mancebo (Skydive Dubai) went on the attack. His move was later followed By Angel Vicioso (Katusha) and Lars Boom (Astana). Boom blew past Vicioso before reaching Mancebo, the two worked together for two kilometres before their attack came to an end with five kilometres remaining.

BMC, Lampre-Merida and Movistar proceeded with a game of one-upmanship as they tried to wrest control of the peloton. Etixx-QuickStep joined in with just over two kilometres to go, with Tony Martin expertly moving Cavendish to the front.

Giant-Alpecin led the way under the flamme rouge with Degenkolb finally turning their efforts into an impressive victory.

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