Dubai Tour: Marcel Kittel wins final stage as Cavendish suffers mechanical
German defends overall title, Groenewegen takes second
Marcel Kittel (QuickStep Floors) stamped his authority on the Dubai Tour by winning the final stage, his third of the race, and the overall title, on Saturday.
The German edged out Elia Viviani (Team Sky) and Riccardo Minali (Astana Pro Team) in the finale, with Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) suffering a mechanical in the sprint and fading to fourth. The British rider told reporters at the finish that his gears jumped just as he was launching his sprint.
Kittel’s early form has seen him win all but one stage of this year’s race and seal his second consecutive title in Dubai. Despite not featuring in the sprint finish, Dylan Groenewegen (Team LottoNl-Jumbo) did enough to secure second overall in the race.
"I'm extremely proud of what I achieved today: my second Dubai Tour overall in a row, my 75th career victory," Kittel said at the finish.
"When I came back to Dubai, I thought this is a nice race, it's a goal for me, but I didn't think it would go so well. The team did a really god job. It's a very nice way to start the season. It was a short stage after the cancellation of stage 4 and we tried to control the race from the very beginning. The breakaway wasn't too big so it went very well for us. At the end, it didn't go exactly according to the plan because Fabio Sabatini's chain fell off. He was supposed to be my last lead out man, so I had to go by myself but at the end I was well positioned, so I could do my sprint as I wanted to."
Kittel was always the favourite to win the GC battle heading into the final flat stage of the race. Once again his QuickStep patrolled the front of the peloton after an early break of Floris Gerts (BMC), Ivan Garcia Cortina (Bahrain-Merida), Dimitry Gruzdev (Astana), and Matteo Bono (UAE -Abu Dhabi) moved clear.
The four riders built up a sizable lead but on the flat course, and with so many strong sprinters in the race, the break’s chances were always limited. Heading into the final 20 kilometres their advantages was culled to just over a minute with Dimension Data, Trek Segafredo and QuickStep Floors in control of the race.
When the catch was finally made with 9.9km to go it looked as though Dimension Data had control of affairs. Cavendish was neatly tucked into the tail of his leadout with Adam Blythe once again winning the battle for the British rider’s rear wheel.
Kittel’s train took a different approach. They posted two men on the front of the bunch to ensure the pace remained high but then brought Kittel into the frame with only 5 kilometres to go as Trek and LottoNL-Jumbo desperately looked to get back on terms.
The finish was peppered with two swinging right-hand turns and when Kittel lost leadout man Fabio Sabatini to a dropped chain it looked as though Cavendish had the advantage. However the Dimension Data train were a spent force as they headed into the final 500 meters, and although Mark Renshaw kept the pace high, Cavendish was forced to ease back and look for Kittel’s wheel.
He was successful but losing speed and then searching for it again proved somewhat costly. It briefly looked as though he would come around the German’s broad frame but when he sat down again with the line in sight Kittel could afford to raise his arms in victory. Viviani and the impressive Minali rounded out the top three but this was Kittel’s race almost from start to finish.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Marcel Kittel (Ger) Quick-Step Floors | 2:34:12 |
2 | Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky | |
3 | Riccardo Minali (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
4 | Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data | |
5 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo | |
6 | Sacha Modolo (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi | |
7 | Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team | |
8 | Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
9 | Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
10 | Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
11 | Truls Korsaeth (Nor) Astana Pro Team | |
12 | Jan Polanc (Slo) Team UAE Abu Dhabi | |
13 | Adam Blythe (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport | |
14 | Thomas Stewart (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling | |
15 | Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:03 |
16 | Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team | |
17 | Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Wilier Triestina | |
18 | Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data | |
19 | Matej Mohoric (Slo) Team UAE Abu Dhabi | |
20 | Andrew Fenn (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport | |
21 | Yousef Mirza (UAE) Team UAE Abu Dhabi | |
22 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data | |
23 | Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team | |
24 | Marco Maronese (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
25 | Matthew Brammeier (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport | 0:00:06 |
26 | Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team | |
27 | Badr Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed Alhammadi (UAE) UAE | |
28 | Karol Domagalski (Pol) ONE Pro Cycling | |
29 | Nicola Boem (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
30 | Hayden Mccormick (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling | |
31 | Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
32 | Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo | |
33 | Koen De Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | |
34 | Quentin Valognes (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk | |
35 | Steele Von Hoff (Aus) ONE Pro Cycling | |
36 | Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team | |
37 | Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
38 | Loïc Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
39 | Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
40 | Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team | |
41 | Joshua Hunt (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling | |
42 | Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team | |
43 | Peter Williams (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling | |
44 | Simone Velasco (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
45 | Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team | |
46 | Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo | |
47 | Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk | |
48 | Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
49 | Samuel Williams (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling | |
50 | Stefan Denifl (Aut) Aqua Blue Sport | |
51 | Yousef Almansoori (UAE) UAE | |
52 | Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk | |
53 | Héctor Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team | |
54 | David Lozano (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk | |
55 | Nasser Almemari (UAE) UAE | |
56 | Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team | |
57 | Jaber Almansoori (UAE) UAE | |
58 | Cristian Rodriguez (Spa) Wilier Triestina | |
59 | Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida | |
60 | Amund Grondahl Jansen (Nor) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:00:14 |
61 | Daniel Pearson (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport | |
62 | Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
63 | Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data | |
64 | Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk | |
65 | Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo | |
66 | Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team | |
67 | Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
68 | Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Team UAE Abu Dhabi | |
69 | Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
70 | Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data | |
71 | Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors | 0:00:17 |
72 | Timo Roosen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
73 | Simone Consonni (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi | 0:00:19 |
74 | Mark Christian (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport | 0:00:21 |
75 | Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky | 0:00:29 |
76 | Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
77 | Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
78 | Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo | 0:00:31 |
79 | Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors | |
80 | Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:36 |
81 | Majid Albalushi (UAE) UAE | 0:00:38 |
82 | Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Quick-Step Floors | |
83 | Liam Bertazzo (Ita) Wilier Triestina | |
84 | Juan Jose Lobato (Spa) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:00:41 |
85 | Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
86 | Ahmed Almansory (UAE) UAE | |
87 | Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team | 0:00:46 |
88 | Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data | |
89 | Julien Vermote (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | 0:00:47 |
90 | Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi | 0:00:50 |
91 | Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 0:00:53 |
92 | Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky | |
93 | Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
94 | Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Team Sky | |
95 | Matteo Bono (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi | 0:01:04 |
96 | Gerd De Keijzer (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk | 0:01:07 |
97 | Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors | |
98 | Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Bahrain-Merida | |
99 | Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | 0:01:22 |
100 | Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky | 0:01:27 |
101 | Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky | 0:01:41 |
102 | Davide Martinelli (Ita) Quick-Step Floors | |
103 | Matteo Busato (Ita) Wilier Triestina | |
104 | Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data | |
105 | Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:01:48 |
106 | Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors | 0:02:04 |
107 | Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo | |
108 | Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo | 0:02:07 |
109 | Bram Tankink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
110 | Alberto Cecchin (Ita) Wilier Triestina | 0:02:09 |
111 | Rafael Andriato (Bra) Wilier Triestina | |
112 | Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk | 0:02:16 |
113 | Borut Bozic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | 0:02:46 |
114 | Saif Mayoof Al Kaabi (UAE) UAE | 0:03:08 |
115 | David Per (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | |
116 | Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | |
117 | Giuseppe Fonzi (Ita) Wilier Triestina | |
118 | Mohammed Almurawwi Alblooshi (UAE) UAE | |
119 | Nick Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data | |
120 | Kristian House (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling | |
121 | Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky | 0:03:47 |
122 | Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Wilier Triestina |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Marcel Kittel (Ger) Quick-Step Floors | 15:08:56 |
2 | Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:00:18 |
3 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo | 0:00:20 |
4 | Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:24 |
5 | Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky | |
6 | Thomas Stewart (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling | |
7 | Riccardo Minali (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 0:00:26 |
8 | Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data | |
9 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data | 0:00:27 |
10 | Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team | |
11 | Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Wilier Triestina | 0:00:29 |
12 | Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team | |
13 | Yousef Mirza Banihammad (UAE) Team UAE Abu Dhabi | |
14 | Nicola Boem (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
15 | Sacha Modolo (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi | 0:00:30 |
16 | Adam Blythe (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport | |
17 | Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
18 | Jan Polanc (Slo) Team UAE Abu Dhabi | |
19 | Truls Korsaeth (Nor) Astana Pro Team | |
20 | Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 0:00:32 |
21 | Loïc Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
22 | Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
23 | Andrew Fenn (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport | 0:00:33 |
24 | Matej Mohoric (Slo) Team UAE Abu Dhabi | |
25 | Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team | |
26 | Marco Maronese (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
27 | Peter Williams (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling | 0:00:35 |
28 | Steele Von Hoff (Aus) ONE Pro Cycling | 0:00:36 |
29 | Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team | |
30 | Koen De Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | |
31 | Quentin Valognes (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk | |
32 | Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team | |
33 | Karol Domagalski (Pol) ONE Pro Cycling | |
34 | Hayden Mccormick (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling | |
35 | Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team | |
36 | Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
37 | Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team | |
38 | Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk | |
39 | Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
40 | Joshua Hunt (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling | |
41 | Simone Velasco (Ita) Bardiani CSF | |
42 | Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team | |
43 | Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk | |
44 | Cristian Rodriguez (Spa) Wilier Triestina | |
45 | Stefan Denifl (Aut) Aqua Blue Sport | |
46 | Daniel Pearson (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport | 0:00:44 |
47 | Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team | |
48 | Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
49 | Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors | 0:00:47 |
50 | Simone Consonni (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi | 0:00:49 |
51 | David Lozano (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk | |
52 | Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data | 0:00:50 |
53 | Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team | 0:00:53 |
54 | Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo | 0:00:57 |
55 | Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky | 0:00:59 |
56 | Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
57 | Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 0:01:01 |
58 | Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Team UAE Abu Dhabi | |
59 | Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Quick-Step Floors | 0:01:08 |
60 | Juan Jose Lobato (Spa) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:01:11 |
61 | Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
62 | Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo | |
63 | Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Team Sky | 0:01:23 |
64 | Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek-Segafredo | 0:01:24 |
65 | Amund Grondahl Jansen (Nor) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:01:25 |
66 | Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team | 0:01:33 |
67 | Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF | 0:01:43 |
68 | Mark Christian (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport | 0:01:44 |
69 | Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team | 0:02:01 |
70 | Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo | |
71 | Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky | 0:02:04 |
72 | Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | 0:02:05 |
73 | Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi | 0:02:06 |
74 | Timo Roosen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | |
75 | Matthew Brammeier (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport | 0:02:07 |
76 | Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky | 0:02:11 |
77 | Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 0:02:34 |
78 | Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors | |
79 | Jaber Almansoori (UAE) UAE | 0:02:36 |
80 | Rafael Andriato (Bra) Wilier Triestina | 0:02:39 |
81 | Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF | 0:02:50 |
82 | Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:03:27 |
83 | Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data | 0:03:34 |
84 | Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors | 0:03:37 |
85 | Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | 0:03:42 |
86 | Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk | 0:03:45 |
87 | Majid Albalushi (UAE) UAE | 0:03:46 |
88 | Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida | 0:03:48 |
89 | Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors | 0:03:59 |
90 | Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data | 0:04:04 |
91 | Julien Vermote (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | 0:04:10 |
92 | Yousef Almansoori (UAE) UAE | 0:04:23 |
93 | Samuel Williams (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling | 0:04:26 |
94 | Giuseppe Fonzi (Ita) Wilier Triestina | 0:04:33 |
95 | David Per (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | 0:04:57 |
96 | Bram Tankink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:04:58 |
97 | Héctor Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:05:07 |
98 | Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo | 0:05:20 |
99 | Liam Bertazzo (Ita) Wilier Triestina | 0:05:35 |
100 | Christopher Williams (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk | 0:05:41 |
101 | Davide Martinelli (Ita) Quick-Step Floors | 0:05:58 |
102 | Gerd De Keijzer (Ned) Team Novo Nordisk | 0:06:05 |
103 | Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Bahrain-Merida | 0:06:06 |
104 | Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | 0:06:24 |
105 | Matteo Bono (Ita) Team UAE Abu Dhabi | 0:06:29 |
106 | Matteo Busato (Ita) Wilier Triestina | 0:06:43 |
107 | Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Wilier Triestina | 0:06:52 |
108 | Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data | 0:07:31 |
109 | Alberto Cecchin (Ita) Wilier Triestina | 0:07:40 |
110 | Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky | 0:07:57 |
111 | Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo | 0:07:59 |
112 | Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data | 0:08:41 |
113 | Badr Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed Alhammadi (UAE) UAE | 0:08:46 |
114 | Nasser Almemari (UAE) UAE | 0:09:25 |
115 | Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo | 0:09:41 |
116 | Ahmed Almansory (UAE) UAE | 0:09:51 |
117 | Borut Bozic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | 0:10:08 |
118 | Kristian House (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling | 0:10:20 |
119 | Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky | 0:12:19 |
120 | Saif Mayoof Al Kaabi (UAE) UAE | 0:13:11 |
121 | Mohammed Almurawwi Alblooshi (UAE) UAE | 0:14:09 |
122 | Nick Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data | 0:14:33 |

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