When Elia Viviani fails to deliver, you can always count on the feisty Italian to come out all guns blazing at the very next opportunity.
He seeks immediate redemption and more than likely, he gets it.
So after missing out on victory on the opening stage of the Dubai Tour on Tuesday despite a perfect effort from his Team Quick-Step lead-out, it came as no surprise when Viviani celebrated his 29th birthday on Wednesday by edging out blue jersey holder Dylan Groenewegen and a stellar cast of sprinters that included Mark Cavendish, Alexander Kristoff and John Degenkolb to claim stage two of the five-day showpiece.
“It’s a special day,” Viviani told reporters after his win.
“It [My birthday] was really more motivation this morning in the start and I think a lot of motivation came also from yesterday’s stage. You know me after nine years as a pro, you always see when I lose it’s always the day after I’m really hungry and motivated to do better work.
“I was pretty disappointed yesterday because the feeling is that I can win but just missed the good side.”
Viviani moved from Team Sky to Quick-Step at the end of last season, knowing he would now have all the help he needs to pull off impressive sprint wins like the one he achieved on Wednesday.
“Yesterday they did a perfect job and I didn’t win so I felt really sorry at night but we were really motivated to do a better job today. We know I have a really good condition and for that we are really on it to try to win as many stages as we can,” added Viviani, who is an Olympic champion on the track having clinched omnium gold at Rio 2016.
The 190km stage two saw the peloton make its way from Skydive Dubai to Ras Al Khaimah and despite a late puncture for Viviani that required a 49-second wheel change with just 20km to go, the Italian won a sprint battle with Cavendish and crossed the finish line ahead of Team Lotto NL-Jumbo’s Groenewegen, who claimed second and retained his leader’s jersey.
“Cav put me on the limit in this sprint,” Viviani said as he re-watched the finish on TV while talking to the press.
Team Dimension Data’s Cavendish, competing in his opening event of the season, ended up in fourth place.
“Fourth is the same as if I get second. For me it’s win or nothing,” stated Cavendish, a 30-time stage winner at the Tour de France.
The ‘Manx Missile’ had won the Dubai Tour in 2015 with Quick-Step and noted the Belgian outfit’s stellar record in the Emirates as a strong reason behind Viviani’s stage two success.
“It was nice to see that I got a bit of confidence back,” said Cavendish.
“The team did it a better job and I have got the legs in the sprint. I lost to Elia, it’s not the first time I lost to Elia, so I can’t really complain about it.
“It doesn’t matter what the reasons are why he’s better than me today, that doesn’t matter, he beat me. Actually I’m happy for him. I wish him a happy birthday and obviously you can see that Quick-Step are strong in this race and I think it shows, Marcel (Kittel) won the last two years (with Quick-Step) but I think it’s Quick-Step that have made the difference here, and they’ve shown it again.
“I won here with Quick-Step and they’ve been the strongest team here so far.”
Catch up on the best of the action from day two of the #DubaiTour… 🚴♂️ pic.twitter.com/D0vmfqcVcd
— Sport360° (@Sport360) February 7, 2018
Viviani is well aware of the golden opportunity he has at the moment, racing for a team like Quick-Step, and he has his sights set on some big targets.
At Sky, he was part of a squad that was built around GC riders like Chris Froome. Now, he has a lead-out that would be the envy of any sprinter out there.
He has already claimed two wins with his new team, taking a stage at the Tour Down Under last month, and now this triumph at Ras Al Khaimah. Still Viviani believes he has his work cut out for him and that he has to adapt to a new style of sprinting.
“Last year when I signed for Team Quick-Step, it was the moment where I understood that the next three or four years can be the best four years of my career. I have a good age, 29 from today, and I think it’s the best year to take the results,” Viviani said.
“I’m not a phenomenon, I work a lot for my goals, to win the biggest races and try to beat the best sprinters in the world.
“I think after the Olympics (taking gold on the track), mentally and physically I’m really on the top and from that point I’m really focused on the road.
“This year is no excuses, I have a really strong team.
“But we need to adjust, every sprint we need to adjust. I need to change also, because my sprint needs to change. Because nine times out of 10 they bring me in good position with free road to go and in the last eight years I’m always from the back, change wheel, follow this sprinter, follow the other team, so that is a big difference.
“We can miss a race like yesterday and maybe I lost in the Tour Down Under but that’s just in the first few months. After this there are no more excuses.”
