Belgian beats Bennett and Groenewegen in Abu Dhabi
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Tim Merlier wins stage 6 of the UAE Tour(Image credit: Getty)
Soudal-QuickStep celebrate a job well done(Image credit: Getty)
The start at Warner Bros Abu Dhabi presented an obvious photo opportunity for Remco Evenepoel.(Image credit: Getty)
Remco Evenepoel before the start(Image credit: Getty)
Larry Warbasse leads Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Samuele Zoccarato (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) on the road to nowhere.(Image credit: Getty)
Larry Warbasse (AG2R Citroen) in action in the break.(Image credit: Getty)
Remco Evenepoel sits safely in the peloton surrounded by his Soudal-QuickStep guard.(Image credit: Getty)
Larry Warbasse put up fierce defiance before he was swept up with 5km to go(Image credit: Getty)
Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) powered to his second victory of the UAE Tour after he fended off Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-Alula) to win stage 6 in Abu Dhabi.
The penultimate day of the race was also the last opportunity for the sprinters, and with so many fast men in the field still seeking their first win of the week, it was always liable to produce a tense finale.
Some sweeping chicanes in the final two kilometres only added to the fraught nature of the run-in, but Merlier was well marshalled through the chaos, with overall leader Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) prominent until the race was within sight of the flamme rouge.
Bennett looked to be well positioned in the last 400 metres behind lead-out man Danny van Poppel, but Merlier found a way through on the inside of the final bend and then kicked from distance.
Although Bennett closed in the final metres, he ran out of road and had to settle for second place behind Merlier, who was already a winner from a breakaway on the opening day of the race.
“Today was a good one. It was really hectic, everyone was so nervous because it was the last sprint, the last opportunity I think, and it was really dangerous,” Merlier said. “In the last 500 metres, I found the good spot and I went again from far out. Today it was enough.”
Groenewegen, winner on stage 5, had took third place ahead of his compatriot Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) and Fernando Gaviria (Movistar). There was frustration, meanwhile, for Mark Cavendish (Astana-Qazaqstan), who was unable to sprint at all after suffering a rear wheel puncture in the final 2km.
The penultimate stage of the UAE Tour had been a largely tranquil affair for much of the day, as the peloton chugged along behind the early escapees, but the tension ratcheted up several notches as the final in Abu Dhabi drew nearer. Bahrain Victorious and Lotto-Dstny were among those to lead the bunch on the wide roads that led into the final kilometre, but no one team was able to take dictate terms to the rest.
“We did a recon of the stage, and we knew before it was going to be really hectic, like the last days again,” Merlier said. “But we found a good way and you need a bit of luck here.”
The stage was animated by a three-man break featuring Larry Warbasse (AG2R Citroën), Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Samuele Zoccarato (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè).
The trio escaped in the opening kilometres and they would establish a maximum lead just north of four minutes before the peloton began to reel them back in. Despite the exposed roads, the wind was not strong enough to provoke any echelons and the stage always looked destined to finish in a bunch sprint.
Despite those odds, the escapees put up stout resistance, but the break had shrunk inside a minute with 20km remaining. Even though the bunch had closed to within touching distance with 10km to go, Warbasse stuck gamely to his task and the American lingered out in front a little longer before he was finally swept up with 5km left.
Evenepoel, meanwhile, finished safely in the peloton after his cameo on behalf of Merlier ahead of the sprint.
“We knew there was a tight chicane with 1.9km to go and we wanted to enter there in the first position to stay out of trouble, because if a crash happened there, it would have been a nasty one,” Evenepoel said.
“Pushing a little bit at that moment wasn’t too much to ask for me. It wasn’t really the plan for me to pull but I had the speed in my legs so I was able to drop the guys off and then with 1.5k to go, I just let the positions go and I could arrive safely.”
Evenepoel carries a lead of 9 seconds over Luke Plapp (Ineos) and 13 seconds on Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) ahead of Sunday’s final mountaintop finish at Jebel Hafeet.
The world champion was part of the decisive break on the opening day before powering Soudal-QuickStep to team time trial victory on stage 2. Evenepoel seized the overall lead with a crisp sprint atop Jebel Jais the following day and he is now heavily favoured to claim his first victory as world champion.
“Of course, it would be a very nice victory here,” said Evenepoel, who is building towards the Giro d’Italia. “I already said in the winter, I wanted to be on a good level at the UAE Tour. We’re going to try to defend this jersey very well and maybe try to go for the stage again tomorrow.”
Barry Ryan was Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.
