Sprint stars take to Dubai streets

Jay Asser 22:26 30/01/2017
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  • Marcel Kittel, Mark Cavendish and Elia Viviani will highlight the top riders opening their season with the sprinter’s paradise that is the Dubai Tour.

    The fourth edition the event has added a new, longer route spanning a total of 865km – 194km more than last year – and includes a fifth stage for the first time, but the course remains mostly flat and favourable to the speediest riders.

    Aside from the fourth stage to Hatta Dam, which features two modest climbs before the final ascend, the course should result in high-speed finishes, with Kittel, Cavendish and Viviani set to take advantage.

    Quick-Step Floors rider Kittel returns to the Emirates as the defending champion, having claimed both the general and points classification in 2016.

    Being the fastest man on the road would otherwise normally be the German’s main focus, but the Dubai Tour offers him the opportunity to not just compete, but win the coveted blue jersey.

    “It’s very nice, I’m happy to be back and to start my season here. For a sprinter, I think there’s no better race to start the year than Dubai.

    “It’s flat. It’s the only race where you can really have the goal for the general classification,” Kittel said.

    “There are very good other sprinters here as well. It’s an opportunity to see how good the team is doing, if there are mistakes happening. Late in the year, when you’re going for the World Tour races, it shouldn’t happen anymore. It’s a really good start.”

    Cavendish, meanwhile, comes into the season with history on his mind.

    The British cyclist for Team Dimension Data is just four wins shy of tying Eddy Merckx’s mark for most all-time Tour de France stage wins with 34 and reiterated Le Tour remains his biggest goal.

    The UAE, however, has become a second home for Cavendish and between the Dubai Tour – which he won in 2015 – this week and the Abu Dhabi Tour next month, the region will play an important role in getting his season off to a strong start.

    While the 31-year-old has been in the country training for the past week since the Abu Dhabi Tour presentation, Cavendish admitted he’s not in top shape following a hectic 2016 that saw him compete on both the track and road.

    “I didn’t finish my season until the end of November and I’m usually a good month into training by then, so we’ll have to see where I am,” he said.

    “I’ve been training, but I don’t think I’m near my best at all.”

    Asked whether the coming days will serve as any indication of the future pecking order between him and his rivals, Cavendish answered: “Not at all.”

    He added: “It’ll be the same old stuff when I get beaten early on. It’s the same every year.”

    At the Dubai Tour, Cavendish will again have to compete with the man who beat him in the omnium at the 2016 Olympics, Elia Viviani.

    The Italian Team Sky rider has been a duel threat on the track and road, but after reaching the pinnacle in the former last year, he’s fixated on making a triumphant return to the latter in 2017.

    “For sure last year was special. I spent a lot of time on the track and when I won the gold, for sure it was the best satisfaction for my career,” Viviani said.

    “I think I’m completely ready to come back on the road this year and this is the big change for me. No more track, so only focus on the road for the next two seasons.”

    Three notable riders who will make their debuts with new outfits in Dubai are German John Degenkolb for Trek-Segafredo, Spaniard Juan Jose Lobato for LottoNL-Jumbo and native son Yousif Mirza for UAE Abu Dhabi.

    Degenkolb won the Hatta stage in the 2015 edition, but was forced to miss out last year after suffering a crash when he was struck by a car in training.

    For Mirza, the race will be a massive step up in competition as he rides for UAE Abu Dhabi, who along with Bahrain-Merida, will make their Middle East debut as the region’s first World teams.

    The Dubai Tour begins today and concludes with the fifth and final stage on Saturday.

    In total, the race will pass through six of the nation’s seven emirates – Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain – to extend its reach nationwide.

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