It was another long weekend full of racing for UAE Team Emirates, with riders spread across Europe in a mix of one-day classics and stage races.
In Poland, Fernando Gaviria began to show what he is capable of as he continues to recover from his knee injury. The Colombian has already taken two second-place finishes in two consecutive flat stages at the Tour de Pologne – narrowly missing out on the wins to Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott) on Stages 1 and 2 respectively.
In the UK, Alexander Kristoff went into the Ride London-Surrey Classic looking to match his 2017 performance, which saw him take top spot on the podium. However, bad luck beset the Norwegian with a crash in the final phase of the race decimating the peloton and causing havoc with the sprinters’ lead out trains.
Kristoff said: “I got involved in the crash with 2km to go. I lost about 20 positions and used a lot of energy to get back to the front. On the final straight we went early but then the guy in front of (Roberto) Ferrari stopped and we lost our speed, just as Quickstep took us on the right hand side.
“They had a really strong lead-out and were coming too fast, so I didn’t have time to react. I managed to get on the wheel after a while but it was too late for me.”
The race was eventually won in a reduced bunch sprint finish by Elia Viviani (Deceuninck Quick-Step).
