If there still was any doubt, Dylan Groenewegen dispelled the notion he’s not arrived among cycling’s elite sprinters as he beat some of the best in the sport to capture the opening stage of the Dubai Tour.
Rubbing elbows with several top sprinters on a flat course from Skydive Dubai to Palm Jumeirah, Groenewegen (Team LottoNL-Jumbo) edged the bunch sprint finish to take early control of the leader’s blue jersey as the Tour got under way on Tuesday.
Rounding out the colours of his nation’s flag, the Dutchman’s victory also netted him the red jersey for the points classification and the white jersey for top young rider.
Groenewegen’s final push in the last 200 metres was enough to give him a narrow win over pursuer Magnus Cort Nielsen (Astana Pro Team), while Olympic gold medalist Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) completed the podium.
Stage 1✅ pic.twitter.com/PD4PD2iQui
— Dylan Groenewegen (@GroenewegenD) February 6, 2018
In a race that featured the likes of Viviani, two-time Dubai Tour reigning champion Marcel Kittel and veteran Mark Cavendish – the latter two finished outside the top 10 – 24-year-old Groenewegen made it clear his victory on the final stage of last year’s Tour de France was no fluke.
Asked by a reporter afterwards if he’s bothered his name isn’t mentioned more among the top sprinters and up-and-comers, Groenewegen replied with a succinct, confident answer: “I’m winning now.”
He added: “It’s great to win here because there are a lot of good sprinters. I came close every day last year but I didn’t win. I came second twice and I’m glad to start this new season on the right foot, thanks to the good job by my team.
“Quick-Step made it a very hard sprint by setting a high speed from far out but I launched my sprint with 200m to go. It was very tight at the end but went in my favour. It feels good to win my first stage this year, especially with the high level of sprinters who are here.”
Watch highlights from the opening stage of the @dubaitour today #DubaiTour 📺https://t.co/e3TSJUztHL
— Sport360° (@Sport360) February 6, 2018
Groenewegen was part of a chasing peloton in pursuit of a five-man breakaway, which consisted of Andrew Fenn (Aqua Blue Sport), Daniel Teklehaimanot (Cofidis), Mohammed Al Mansoori (UAE), Nathan Van Hooydonck (BMC Racing) and Charles Planet (Novo Nordisk).
After the peloton caught up with lone survivor Fenn in the final 10km, the battle shifted to being between Quick-Step Floors and Katusha-Alpecin near the front. But Groenewegen received help from team-mates Amund Grondahl Jansen and Timo Roosen to set up his sprint finish in the final metres.
“They have done a really good job and I owe them many thanks,” Groenewegen said. “It was pushy, but I had a good lead-out.”
