Dubai Tour stage 1: Taylor Phinney wins time trial
BMC rider takes leader's jersey
Riders with track pedigrees came, saw and conquered on the opening stage of the Dubai Tour with Taylor Phinney (BMC) wining the opening 9.9km time trial ahead of teammate Steven Cummings and Lasse Norman Hansen (Garmin-Sharp).
World time trial champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma QuickStep) was the last rider to start the flat test, in which riders were required to use their road machines. However the German could only manage fourth place in his opening race of the season, with Phinney taking the top step.
The American came into the race as one of the clear favourites and scorched around the flat out-and-back course in a time of 12:03. It was more than enough to lead in the opening stages of the time trial as rider after rider failed to unsettle the top of the leader board.
“Winning means a lot. I've been thinking about this race for a while. I was focused on Tony. I know he doesn't take any time trial lightly, even if it's short and on road bikes,” Phinney said after the stage.
Phinney cleverly opted to start the time early, knowing the wind could increase in the afternoon, while his rivals went off later.
“Initially I decided to go early, because the wind report looked like it would build towards the afternoon and the evening. When I looked this morning the forecast said it was going to be the same at 1pm and 4pm."
"I hoped it was same conditions for same everybody, but its hard with 125 riders. He (Tony Martin) had to start last because he's world champion, even if he wanted to start in the first wave.”
Phinney’s teammate Cummings came closest with a time 14 second adrift but, with Martin and Fabian Cancellara still to come, Phinney was anxiously left to wait as the sport’s two most successful time triallists over the last decade set off.
“I was nervous that he'd beat me in the end but I'm overjoyed and super relieved to come home with the win,” said Phinney. “Now we'll take it into tomorrow and see where we're at.
“My next immediate goal is to win whole race. We've definitely got some strong competition but at BMC we've got a good team and we're motivated. Steve Cummings is second overall too. I'm excited. It's a short race but it’s an intense race. We'll see. It's a cliché but we'll take it day by day."
Meanwhile a race within a race took place as sprinters Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano), Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma QuickStep) took to the streets of Dubai.
Kittel was first to finish, a full 38 seconds down on Phinney but in a provisional fifth place. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) racing for the first time since a crash at the Tour de San Luis was next to start, as Adriano Malori (Movistar) – the only rider to beat Phinney at the time trial in San Luis – failed to trouble the leaders with a time of 12:35.
Cancellara, who came into the race keen to play down his chances after an off-season disrupted by illness and an altercation with a car whilst out training, finished in a time of 12:28, 25 seconds down on Phinney.
Neo-pro and Olympic omnium champion Hansen posted the surprise of the day, slotting into third place and pushing Cancellara down a place. With Rui Costa and Nibali both finishing down the leader board only Martin remained. However the German could only take fourth place, 22 seconds down, to leave Phinney with his first win of the season.
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Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team | 0:12:03 |
2 | Steven Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:14 |
3 | Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Garmin Sharp | 0:00:16 |
4 | Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:00:22 |
5 | Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Factory Racing | 0:00:25 |
6 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale | 0:00:31 |
7 | Adriano Malori (Ita) Movistar Team | 0:00:32 |
8 | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Cannondale | 0:00:35 |
9 | Alexandr Porsev (Rus) Team Katusha | |
10 | Peter Velits (Svk) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:37 |
11 | Marcel Kittel (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano | 0:00:38 |
12 | Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:00:40 |
13 | Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Garmin Sharp | 0:00:41 |
14 | Rory Sutherland (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo | 0:00:42 |
15 | Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Team Katusha | 0:00:43 |
16 | Yannick Eijssen (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
17 | Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:00:44 |
18 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
19 | Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | |
20 | Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin Sharp | |
21 | Bob Jungels (Lux) Trek Factory Racing | 0:00:45 |
22 | Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo | |
23 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Team Giant-Shimano | 0:00:46 |
24 | Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida | 0:00:47 |
25 | Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Trek Factory Racing | 0:00:49 |
26 | Lawson Craddock (USA) Team Giant-Shimano | |
27 | Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:00:50 |
28 | Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Team Katusha | |
29 | Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team | |
30 | Wouter Poels (Ned) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:00:51 |
31 | Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano | |
32 | Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:00:52 |
33 | Ivan Rovny (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo | |
34 | Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Garmin Sharp | |
35 | Nelson Oliveira (Por) Lampre-Merida | 0:00:53 |
36 | Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team | |
37 | Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:00:54 |
38 | Fabio Silvestre (Por) Trek Factory Racing | |
39 | Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | |
40 | Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo | 0:00:56 |
41 | Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin Sharp | 0:00:57 |
42 | Pavel Brutt (Rus) Team Katusha | |
43 | Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo | 0:00:59 |
44 | Rick Zabel (Ger) BMC Racing Team | 0:01:01 |
45 | Danilo Hondo (Ger) Trek Factory Racing | 0:01:02 |
46 | Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Team Katusha | |
47 | Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team | 0:01:03 |
48 | Evan Huffman (USA) Astana Pro Team | |
49 | Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:01:04 |
50 | Alexandr Pliuschin (Mda) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team | |
51 | Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team | |
52 | Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Trek Factory Racing | |
53 | Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 0:01:05 |
54 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale | 0:01:07 |
55 | Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
56 | Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek Factory Racing | 0:01:08 |
57 | Nikolas Maes (Bel) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:01:09 |
58 | Marco Marcato (Ita) Cannondale | 0:01:10 |
59 | Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
60 | Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team | |
61 | Luca Paolini (Ita) Team Katusha | |
62 | Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin Sharp | 0:01:11 |
63 | Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 0:01:12 |
64 | Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano | |
65 | Mark Renshaw (Aus) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:01:13 |
66 | Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team | |
67 | Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Team Katusha | 0:01:14 |
68 | Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek Factory Racing | 0:01:16 |
69 | Jay McCarthy (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo | 0:01:17 |
70 | Luca Dodi (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:01:18 |
71 | Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin Sharp | 0:01:20 |
72 | Rafael Ferreira Reis (Por) Banco BIC Carmim | |
73 | Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Tinkoff-Saxo | 0:01:23 |
74 | Edward King (USA) Cannondale | 0:01:26 |
75 | Rafaa Chtioui (Tun) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team | |
76 | Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Giant-Shimano | 0:01:28 |
77 | Tom Veelers (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano | |
78 | Alessandro Malaguti (Ita) Vini-Fantini-Nippo | 0:01:30 |
79 | Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
80 | Mohammed Albalooshi (UAE) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team | 0:01:31 |
81 | Willem Jakobus Smit (RSA) Vini-Fantini-Nippo | 0:01:32 |
82 | Daniele Ratto (Ita) Cannondale | 0:01:33 |
83 | Bruno Manuel Sil Pires (Por) Tinkoff-Saxo | |
84 | Cheng Ji (Chn) Team Giant-Shimano | |
85 | Diogo Nunes (Por) Banco BIC Carmim | |
86 | Andrea Palini (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
87 | Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Vini-Fantini-Nippo | 0:01:36 |
88 | Kim Magnusson (Swe) Vini-Fantini-Nippo | 0:01:37 |
89 | Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Team Katusha | |
90 | Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team | 0:01:40 |
91 | Daniel Mestre (Por) Banco BIC Carmim | |
92 | Riccardo Stacchiotti (Ita) Vini-Fantini-Nippo | |
93 | Sebastian Lander (Den) BMC Racing Team | 0:01:42 |
94 | Yousif Mirza (UAE) United Arab Emirates | |
95 | Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cannondale | 0:01:44 |
96 | Soufiane Haddi (Mar) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team | 0:01:45 |
97 | Sun Jae Jang (Kor) RTS-Santic Racing Team | 0:01:47 |
98 | Adil Jelloul (Mar) Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team | |
99 | Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:01:48 |
100 | Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 0:01:49 |
101 | Antonio Viola (Ita) Vini-Fantini-Nippo | 0:01:51 |
102 | Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:01:54 |
103 | Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:01:58 |
104 | Keon-Woo Park (Kor) RTS-Santic Racing Team | 0:01:59 |