Esteban Chaves savours first victory at inaugural Abu Dhabi Tour

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Tasting victory: Chaves.

    Colombian Esteban Chaves is ready to head to the beach and relax after claiming his first professional career general classification victory at the first edition of the Abu Dhabi Tour.

    The 25-year-old Orica-GreenEDGE rider kept the red jersey he had claimed after the third stage at Jabel Hafeet as he crossed the finish line with the rest of the riders in the bunch to be crowned champion under the floodlights at Yas Marina Circuit.

    Italian team Sky rider Elia Viviani won Sunday’s fourth and final stage by outsprinting world champion Peter Sagan for the second time in three days.

    The set up for the race at the Formula One track was so spectacular that former world champion Mark Cavendish admitted he was “a little bit jealous” not to be racing as he watched from the sidelines, having not fully recovered from shoulder surgery.

    The Abu Dhabi Tour finale saw the riders go around the 5.5km circuit 20 times. Chaves, who claimed two stage wins at the Vuelta a Espana last month, said: “To finish the season in this way is really good because you have good memories and good motivation to train in the winter. To win the first Abu Dhabi Tour is great, it’s the first edition of the race and the first stage race win for me, I’m really happy and so are the team.

    “It’s a beautiful circuit. In the middle of the stage, when the lights went on, it was a beautiful feeling. It was very fast, over 46km/hr and for October, this is really fast.

    “For the moment, what’s important is to take a rest. Disconnect, holidays, beach, eat…after this we can start to think about the next season.”

    There’s no denying that the final stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour had special written all over it. Held under the floodlights at Yas Marina Circuit, even the riders themselves couldn’t resist creating a F1 moment as Sagan pulled a surprising stunt, making a pit stop midrace to change his helmet.

    “I tried to do like in Formula One, it was funny for the fans. It was very special racing here, different…it was cool. Very fast. The last laps we went too fast, big turns,” said Sagan. “Still, second place, it’s not first. Now the season is finished, I’m happy for that.”

    Viviani was full of praise for Sagan, saying he is making the sport more interesting for the fans and viewers.

    “Peter is so funny and that’s why I think he’s a good world champion. He is good for spectators. All this funny action is good for TV and for the fans on the road,” said the 26-year-old Viviani.

    “It was a really fast stage. The corners were large, we never touched our brakes, we went full gas all race because it was short and all the teams wanted to be in front.

    “It was really close in the end. Sagan was on my wheel in the last corner. I was in the perfect position and with 150m to go started my sprint. The lap before I understood it would be too difficult to come up and stay in the front. It was close but the most important thing was passing the finish line in first position.”

    For the first time ever in a men’s professional road race, live on-board bike camera feeds were transmitted to TV sets worldwide.

    Cyclists Tom Dumoulin and Johannes Fröhlinger from Giant-Alpecin and Stijn Vandenbergh and Johannes Fröhlinger and Lukasz Wisniowski from Ettix-Quick-Step had cameras mounted on their bikes, providing a unique experience for viewers.

    Chaves ended up with the red and white jerseys (GC and Young Rider), Viviani took the green points classification jersey while UnitedHealthcare’s Alessandro Bazzana grabbed the black intermediate sprint jersey. 

    Recommended