UAE Tour: Ewan wins at Hatta Dam

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Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) used his sprinting power to conquer the short, steep climb to the edge of Hatta Dam and so win stage 4 of the UAE Tour.

The Australian started the climb from the front and pounded on the pedals, pointing into the air in celebration as he crossed the line. It was his first win since moving to Lotto Soudal for the 2019 season but came on a climb rather than a flat sprint finish.

Young Italian sprinter Matteo Moschetti (Trek-Segafredo) was second, two seconds behind Ewan, and race leader Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) was third, taking a precious four-second time bonus.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Damien Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) were caught up in a crash with six kilometres to go and were forced to make a hectic chase. Valverde made it back to finish eighth, five seconds down on Ewan. The young French rider hit a speed bump inside the final kilometre and needed to change a wheel, so was fortunate to be given the same time as Valverde due to the three-kilometre rule for crashes and mechanical problems.

Roglic now leads Valverde by 21 seconds in the overall classification, with Gaudu at 38 seconds, as the race heads into stage 5 on Thursday.

The 17 per cent climb to the finish required a huge effort, leaving riders gasping after they crossed the line. Alexander Kristoff had been well-placed at the foot of the climb, but struggled in a big gear and was forced to walk to the finish after breaking his rear derailleur and losing his chain.

It was an unusual way for a Ewan to win his first race of 2019, but he showed he is more than just a pure sprinter.

"I thought I would win more of a typical bunch sprint to start with, but I knew coming into the stage, with all the fast sprinter here, that this might be my best opportunity to take a stage win because of the uphill finish," Ewan said of his first win with Lotto Soudal.

"My team did well to protect me all day. It was a pretty tough stage even before the final climb. I was right where I needed to be on that last right-hand turn, and I still felt good coming up the climb. I started my sprint when I needed to, and luckily I held on.

"I watched the video of previous years a few times. In the videos, you don't really see how steep it is. When I started sprinting I could really feel it - had to click down a few gears to keep on top of it, but I felt good and could really keep the power until the end."

Roglic was relieved not to have lost any time.

"It's always better to gain some time in a stage like this than lose some time. Once again, my teammates did a really job before the uphill finish, then it was up to me, and I delivered," he explained.

"It was my first time here. It's only once you turn right and hit this wall that you realize how hard it is. I was in the big chain ring, and it was a big fight to make it to the top."

How it happened

The stage was all about the finish on the ramp to the edge of Hatta Dam, but the long ride east across the desert was never going to be easy and 30kph tailwind and crosswind made for a fast race, but with echelons and sand blowing across the road.

Yet again, the break of the day formed soon after the start overlooking the Palm Jumeirah. The group contained no fewer than three Gazprom-Rusvelo riders: Igor Boev, Artem Nych and Stepan Kurianov as they again targeted the intermediate sprints jersey. Will Clarke (Trek-Segafredo), Alessandro De Marchi (CCC) and Charles Planet (Novo Nordisk) also joined the move for a day out front. Their lead quickly pushed out to four minutes.

The stage visited the Dubai Cycling Track circuit and then cut across the desert with a series of left and right turns on the highways.

After 85km Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep) crashed alone. The Belgian prodigy finished 15th on the previous day's summit finish but he was forced to abandon the race. The Belgian team later confirmed that Evenepoel had suffered superficial abrasions but no fractures.

With 75km left to race, the wind rose and so did the tension and speed in the peloton. A left turn after the feed zone turned the tailwind into a crosswind and Bahrain-Merida went on the attack.

That first attack failed as the wind eased but with 60km to go the riders were caught in an exposed section of desert with sand blowing across the road. A cross-tailwind raised the seed and caused problems with the peloton splitting into four groups.

Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) and Ewan were amongst those caught out behind but a change in direction near Hatta allowed them to get back on before the rolling roads of the final 40km.

Valverde had been hoping to use the wind to test his rivals and gesticulated furiously when the peloton eased. It was unclear if he was venting his anger a Movistar teammate who was not on the font or other riders in the front group.

The break still led the peloton by three minutes but Jumbo-Visma again came to the front to accept their responsibility as race leaders. UAE Team Emirates also contributed to the pursuit of the five leaders, and so the gap dropped to 40 seconds with 20km to go.

On the first climb, with 14km to go, Clarke, De Marchi and Nych distanced Planet and Boev, then De Marchi pushed on alone. However, the peloton was stirring behind.

Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R La Mondiale) attacked and was joined by Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb). They worked well together and swept up the breakaway riders, with Dumoulin going clear alone on the second kick up. He had little chance of staying away but bravely persisted as Tony Martin led the chase for Jumbo-Visma.

The Valverde-crash occurred with six kilometres to go on a wide straight section of road. A number of riders went down and others were forced off the road or delayed. Valverde weaved his way through the crash and began to chase with two teammates. Gaudu, Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) were also among those caught behind and were forced to chase. However the race was on and nobody waited for the world champion, with CCC Team riding hard on the front.

Dumoulin was pulled back with five kilometres to go as the riders swept through the suburbs of Hatta and headed towards the foot of the dam.

Valverde made it back and dived into the corners to try to move up to the front. Gaudu had a mechanical problem and wisely stopped to change a wheel inside the three-kilometre point, ensuring he would be given the same time as the group he was in at the finish.

The finish on Hatta Dam is an intense uphill sprint but most of the sprint fancied their chances. Sonny Colbrelli won at Hatta Dam a year ago in the Dubai Tour. The other previous winners at Hatta are Marcel Kittel, John Degenkolb and Juan Jose Lobato.

Positioning was vital and Jumbo-Visma, then Team Sky and then UAE Team Emirates hit the front inside the final kilometre. Kristoff stomped on the pedals as the road turned right and the 17 per cent climb began. However, he was over-geared. Moschetti was faster and kicked away, but Ewan was just as strong and came up alongside the young Italian and then raced passed him.

Ewan was using his sprinting power but was dancing on the pedals and holding the tops of his brake levers. It was an effective style, and he opened a gap on everyone, going on to win the stage by several bike lengths with one arm in the air.

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