UAE Tour: Ackermann wins stage 1 sprint

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Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) emerged victorious after a high-speed and aggressive sprint on the opening stage of the UAE Tour.

The German rider opened his sprint early to punch his way through to the front as his rivals fought for position and a clear run at the line. He then used his speed to hold the centre of the road and had the power to win and celebrate a hugely important victory against many of the best sprinters in the peloton.

Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) was second and Frenchman Rudy Barbier (Israel Start-Up Nation) was third. Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) came up late to finish fourth but Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) and Mark Cavendish (Bahrain McLaren) were out of the top ten after struggling to find their way past their rivals.

Thanks to his victory, Ackermann pulled on the red jersey as the first leader of the week-long UAE Tour.

"I'm super happy with this victory because almost all the top sprinters are here and I wasn't sure if my shape was good enough to beat them all," Ackermann said soon after the finish.

"Now I know that my shape is good and we can take it easy the next few days and have a look at what goes on during the week. 

"It was a really hectic and nervous sprint in which I was jumping from one guy's wheel to another one. I was swimming from one guy to the next one but when I saw my chance I told myself to go. I took my chance at the right time. Everyone was really strong. I surprised them by starting my sprint with 300 metres to go."

Ackermann will wear the red jersey for Monday's second stage to Hatta Dam. The 168km stage includes rolling climbs for much of the day, making it unlikely the sprinters will be able to contest the charge up the 12 per cent climb to the edge of the huge reservoir. 

How it unfolded

The riders were in a relaxed mood as they signed on at the waterfront Point resort on the Palm Jumeirah on the man-made island off the coast of Dubai. Perhaps the most nervous was Chris Froome as he made his return to racing but he would finish safely in the peloton, happy to be back racing after eight months out due to injury.

The 148km stage was flat and switched back and forth on wide desert roads behind the Dubai skyscrapers. The peloton was happy to let an early break go clear and Nikolay Cherkasov, Cristian Scaroni (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Leonardo Tortomasi and Veljko Stojnic (Vini Zabù - KTM) jumped away to fight for the intermediate time bonuses and minor jerseys. They quickly opened a three-minute lead but then riders from UAE Team Emirates, Deceuninck-QuickStep and Lotto Soudal all helped to control the breakaway for their sprinters. 

There was some wind blowing from the north but the 20km/h desert breeze was not enough to split the peloton and spark echelons. However, it made for a hard day out, with much of the stage into a cross or headwind

Stojnic won the first intermediate sprint after 46km and then Tortomasi jumped away to take maximum points at the second intermediate sprint. However, it was his younger teammate and neo-pro that would pull on the special black jersey. 

With 30km to go the break began to fall apart with first Scaroni dropping back and then Stojnic. The peloton let the pother two riders hang out front on a long straight road into the headwind.

The catch only came with 14km to go as the race turned left and the peloton finally had the wind at their backs. The speed rose and the sprint teams swarmed on the front. Suddenly it was a fight for position. Tony Martin tired to keep Jumbo-Visma on the left along the barriers as other teams moved up in the wind on their right. Deceuninck-QuickStep dragged Bennett up and Bahrain McLaren did the same for Cavendish as the kilometres ticked down and the speed rose. Team Sunweb were riding for Alberto Dainese and Mitchelton-Scott and Israel Start-Up Nation then came late with their sprinters Luka Mezgec and Rudy Berbier in tow. However, the pack reshuffled again and again, making it impossible for one team to control and lead out the sprint. Even Deceuninck-QuickStep fell apart and lost position.

Ackermann had one Bora-Hansgrohe teammate to help him and managed to find the sweet spot near the front and on the right wheels. When the finish appeared in view with 300 metres to go, he decided to go early. He avoided the chaos and fight for the wheels and had a clean run at the line, while others were forced towards the barriers and out of contention.

Ackermann had the speed to go all the way to the line and celebrated his first WorldTour win of the 2020 season. All the other big-name sprinters would have to wait for another chance and the next high-speed sprint finish.

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