Alexander Kristoff’s dreams of a podium finish on his UAE Team Emirates debut were dashed by a crash on the very last bend of the final stage as the Norwegian had to be content with ninth place overall at the Dubai Tour.
Elia Viviani, who had led the General Classification throughout the final three days, cemented overall victory by avoiding the late chaos to win the stage ahead of rivals Nacer Bouhanni, Sonny Colbrelli and Mark Cavendish who all either went down or were held up in the drama.
Cofidis rider Bouhanni slid as he made his move on the final bend, causing the crash which downed Bahrain-Merida’s Colbrelli – winner of Stage 4 on Friday – while Dimension Data’s Cavendish and early Tour pacesetter Dylan Groenewegen (Team Lotto NL-Jumbo) saw their chances of victory come to an end as they were held up.
Kristoff – led excellently all day by the attacking Arab duo of Anass Ait El Abdia and UAE national champion Yousif Mirza who positioned their team nicely at the top of the peloton in the race’s closing stages – was disappointed by the outcome.
But he will look to make up for his Middle East misery at next week’s Tour of Oman or when the team return to the Emirates at the end of the month for the Abu Dhabi Tour – where they are defending champions after Rui Costa’s triumph last year.
“I approached the final right-handed bend in a great position ready to make my move, but unfortunately the riders in front of me crashed,” said Kristoff, the reigning European road race champion.
“I managed to avoid them, but I was forced to stop which meant I missed out on the sprint. We’ll now look to the next races in Oman and the UAE where we hope to achieve better results and showcase our talent to the fans – their support has been amazing.”
Kristoff had to settle for 58th place on the stage, which was a blot on an otherwise impressive debut for both his new team and his own season.
He finished outside the top 10 for the first time on the final day having secured two fourth place and two seventh place finishes on the previous four stages.
Mirza, who attempted an early break away, eventually dropped back into the peloton and worked tactically with his team-mates to set the pace and control the blue jersey bunch for a large portion of the race.
And the 29-year-old was adamant team-mate Kristoff would have been in a position to gain a podium place had it not been for the final kilometre’s late calamity.
Yousif Mirza (l) and Anass Ait El Abdia during Stage 5.
“The win, it will come for our team, for sure,” said the Ras Al Khaimah native.
“If not Oman then Abu Dhabi. Our supporters and fans should feel proud about the team and its performance at this year’s Dubai Tour. We approached each stage with the right attitude and, despite not getting the win, I feel we honoured our home race.
“I think we did a great job today for Alex to put him in the sprint position. Before 500m there was a big crash between some teams. Alex stayed in the bunch so he could do nothing, and it definitely affected him.”
UAE Team Emirates were celebrating a podium place as they claimed third in the team standings behind BMC Racing and Katusha-Alpecin.
And Mirza added: “But it was two or three good places for Alex (over the five days) and we are third in the GC for teams so overall it has been a successful Tour.
“It was the first race for some of our riders in the Middle East and they are trying to start the season well. We will continue until we arrive at our goal.”
Mirza talked before the Tour of his improvement personally having got a full season of WorldTour racing under his belt in 2017. And he now feels his development is helping him contribute more overall to his team.
“This is my second season with the team and I can feel that I have improved, my fitness and shape,” he said.
“If you followed the results from last year, you can see I’ve been improving and contributing to the team’s results. I am also improving my experience and that also helps me to help the team improve.
“I do my job in the races and I know now more what I need to do and in each race I am improving.”
The team now depart for the Tour of Oman (February 13-18) before returning home for the Abu Dhabi Tour (February 21-25).
📸 Do you remember all the best moments of 🇦🇪#DubaiTour this week?
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamUAEAbuDhabi) 10 February 2018
Check out the full photo Gallery on our website➡️:https://t.co/7yhp3d0FzS #UAETeamEmirates
📷: @bettiniphoto & @PhotoFizza pic.twitter.com/AaFwDjMmCk
