Alexander Kristoff lacks power at Abu Dhabi Tour Stage 2 as he throws support behind Fabio Aru and Rui Costa

Matt Jones - Editor 20:24 22/02/2018
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  • Alexander Kristoff said his Tour de France saved his 2018 season.

    Alexander Kristoff grimaced and groaned as he fought his way through chaotic crosswinds to secure a top-10 finish on Stage 2 of the Abu Dhabi Tour on Thursday.

    Italy’s Elia Viviani replaced the Norwegian UAE Team Emirates rider in the red jersey following victory on Yas Island. But even though European champion Kristoff remains locked at the top of the leaderboard with the Quick-Step Floors man and is targeting a second stage win on Friday, he insists he will now ride for either teammate Rui Costa or Fabio Aru as the team target overall General Classification glory.

    “We hope to win the red jersey, but not with me,” said Kristoff, who fought back in windy conditions to claim seventh place on Yas Beach, following his triumph on Stage 1 in Madinat Zayed on Wednesday.

    “So now I will try to grab a win tomorrow, it’s a good sprint day, then after that it’s for the other guys. For sure I will be riding for either Fabio or Rui.”

    And whereas he powered to victory on day one – two days after claiming his first victory for his new team on the Tour of Oman’s final stage – Kristoff said he lacked the legs on Stage 2.

    “I did not feel so good today and I was not in the first group. We came back and I tried to do a good sprint, but I did not have the same power as yesterday,” said the 30-year-old.

    “Viviani was too fast and there were a bunch of guys also passing me in the end. There was no illness. Just some days legs feels stronger than other days. I did not feel as strong as yesterday.

    “I prefer to fight for the position today because I was at one stage far back. The team put me back in good position and in the mix but I just did not have the same power.”

    Fabio Aru will be in contention for the final stage and the Jebel Hafeet ascent.

    Fabio Aru will be in contention for the final stage and the Jebel Hafeet ascent.

    Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani CSF), Joey Rosskopf (BMC), Jaco Venter (Dimension Data), Alexander Porsev (Gazprom Rusvelo) and Charles Planet (Novo Nordisk) formed the first breakaway group of the day.

    Their gap topped out at four minutes as the peloton was unwilling to let them get too far away. The advantage started decreasing after the halfway point and the sprinters’ teams piled on the pressure as they all charged into the feed zone, with the gap dropping dramatically.

    With 47km left, Katusha-Alpecin led the thundering herd past the break group.

    But then the crosswinds came into play as the leading teams continued to push the pace as much as possible. Echelons developed and the tactic worked, as the field was quickly strung out and riders were rapidly dropped.

    Kristoff, Viviani and GC favourite Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) were left behind in the second group as Aru, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal), Marcel Kittel (Katusha) and Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) pushed the pace in the first group, keeping the rest at arm’s length at 30 seconds back.

    The second and third groups then came together and rode furiously and, with just under 23km to go the pace dropped up front and the Kristoff-Dumoulin group came within sight of the leaders.

    They hooked on again with around 18km remaining and as the sprint trains formed going into the final kilometre, Bora-Hansgrohe’s Pascal Ackermann was the first to jump, but both Viviani and Danny van Poppel (LottoNL-Jumbo) powered past him.

    And Viviani, claiming his fifth win of an impressive start to 2018, praised the work of his Quick-Step colleagues.

    “I need to break the ice on the first day of a stage race. Usually, I don’t win the first sprint. It’s been the case again but I was very confident today,” said the 2016 Olympic track champion.

    “Also in the echelons, I felt strong and I was willing to pull. We had Julian Alaphilippe and Enric Mas in the front group. It was good for our GC but we also wanted to win the stage, so I asked the guys to wait for me and close the gap.

    “When we regrouped with 20km to go, I said we put all our efforts into the last corner. Young Alvaro Hodeg is unbelievable in his preparation for my sprint.

    “Michael Morkov is always in the right place and I trust Fabio Sabatini 100 per cent for the lead out. With such a team, it was easy for me to finish it off.”

    Viviani was rewarded with the race leader’s red jersey, as well as the points leader’s green jersey.

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