Kittel's Dubai Tour title defence off to slow start and other stage 1 takeaways

Rough start for reigning champion

No-one has dominated the Dubai Tour quite like Marcel Kittel, with the German sprint king having won the past two editions with relative ease.

But Kittel’s defence of the crown and quest for a three-peat got off to a less than ideal start as he cruised over the line well behind the top finishers.

Racing in red as he made his debut with Katusha-Alpecin, Kittel sputtered out towards the end when he suffered a “technical problem”, which he didn’t expound on. It appeared as if he was in a favourable position for the bunch sprint, with his team-mates helping to clear a path, but it was ultimately a disappointing end to the day for the 29-year-old.

It’s been rare to see Kittel not featured on the podium in Dubai, where he claimed three of the four stages that took place last year (stage four in Hatta was cancelled due to strong winds) and two of the four in 2016. Kittel has worn the leader’s jersey after the opening stage in each of the past two years, so it will be interesting to see how he responds when having to make up ground.

Cavendish out of form

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Mark Cavendish wasn’t one of the primary riders in the bunch sprint finish on Stage 1.

The Manxman tempered expectations ahead of the tour, cautioning that his fitness may not be where he wants it to be just yet, with Dubai the site of his first race of the season.

And the first stage was nothing to write home about for Cavendish as he finished outside of the top 10, with his Dimension Data team unable to give Katusha-Alpecin or Quick-Step Floors much of a scare in the front of the bunch.

Cavendish still has the Tour of Oman next week and the Abu Dhabi Tour the week after that, so expect him to progressively ramp up his form with the aim of peaking by July, when he’ll take aim at his ultimate goal, the Tour de France.

Fenn goes for it

The flat nature of Stage 1, and the Dubai Tour in general, is such that it means the peloton is almost always within range of the breakaway group.

That didn’t stop Andrew Fenn from taking his shot on day one, however, as the Briton from Aqua Blue Sport seized an opening to be the man to chase down the stretch.

Fenn was initially part of the five-man breakaway that included Daniel Teklehaimanot (Cofidis), Nathan Van Hooydonck (BMC Racing), Charles Planet (Novo Nordisk) and Mohammed Al Mansoori (UAE). Fenn and Planet separated from the group Inside of the final 20 kilometeres before the former made a push while the latter dragged.

Fenn did all he could to keep up the pace, but eventually the chasing teams of Katusha and Quick-Step closed the gap and overtook him inside the final 10km.

While he couldn’t finish inside the top 10, Fenn’s aggressiveness at least made him the man to beat for a good portion of the stage, even if his demise was predictable.

Taking notice

Considering how new the Dubai Tour is and its place in the UAE sporting calendar, it’s no small feat that it caught the attention of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai.

Sheikh Mohammed was spotted on day one of the Tour in a car along the race route, speaking with Saeed Hareb, Dubai Sports Council general secretary, and checking out the race guide booklet.

You can’t get a bigger stamp of approval in the emirate than from Sheikh Mohammed himself and his interest in the event is an indication of how far the Tour has come since launching in 2014.

While it may not be on the level of the Dubai World Cup or the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Tour continues to grow alongside cycling’s evolution in the UAE.