DUBAI // There is clearly something about the roads of the UAE that bring out the best in Team Sky cyclist Elia Viviani.
Twelve months ago the Italian cyclist had triumphed on the second stage of the Dubai Tour, and he repeated that feat Thursday as he came out on top in a sprint finish to cross the line first in front of the Hotel Atlantis on the Palm Jumeirah.
Viviani, 26, also won the second and fourth stages of the Abu Dhabi Tour in October, so Thursday’s success underlined his impressive form.
Also see: All of The National's Dubai Tour 2016 coverage at our landing page
Viviani said his victory came from him and his team learning from the mistakes of their attempt at triumphing on the opening stage on Wednesday, won by Marcel Kittel.
“When you have a perfect lead out it’s all easy for us, because you only need to do one sprint and that is a sprint for the victory,” he said.
“Yesterday I needed to sprint for fifth place or sixth place or try to sprint for the win, I decided to do a sprint for the win. I finished in eighth place.”
“So yesterday night we decided to analyse what we did wrong and we made a plan for today.
“The plan was wait, wait, wait and after the tunnel it was the perfect point to do a good lead out and Michal Golas, Andrew Fenn and Ben Swift did a perfect job.
“It’s important when you do a good lead out.”
Sachada Modolo and Giacomo Nizzolo were second and third home.
The result also put Viviani in the overall lead of the race. He will be wearing the blue jersey, going into Friday’s third stage.
Viviani moved ahead of Kittel, the previous leader, with the pair sharing the same time of 7 hours, 42 minutes and 50 seconds but with Viviani taking top spot as a result of having the higher finish in the race he had not won. Kittel 22nd to finish Thursday.
Kittel and Mark Cavendish, the defending champion in the race, who is four seconds off the lead in fifth in the standings, were delayed by a crash late in the stage involving Jaber Al Mansouri, Owain Doull and Boy van Poppel that prevented them being involved in the decisive sprint that Viviani won.
“We didn’t see the crash,” Viviani said of the incident. “We decided to go into the tunnel on the left side and we went straight on our way.”
Viviani also took the red jersey for points leader in the race away from Kittel.
He is on 28, with Kittel three behind and Modolo a further one adrift in third.
Unsurprisingly, given how well he has done in the UAE, Viviani is enjoying the conditions of the racing in Dubai.
“The good thing here is that having 120, 130 riders in the group was a good number,” he said.
“There was not a lot of stress on the group throughout the day.
“The big roads help us to have space. It’s a different kind of race here and this one I think is one of the best races for the start of the season.
“The temperature was perfect and also this year the stages are a little it longer. Our preparation was really good and to start the season with a win is perfect.”
Yousif Mirza of Al Nasr Pro Cycling Team – Dubai was once again the highest ranked Emirati in 58th position, while Ali Al Ibrahim of Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team – Al Ahli Club came in 83rd.
For the second day running, the Moroccan Soufiane Haddi of Skydive Dubai claimed the White Jersey for the best young rider.
One Pro Cycling’s Marcin Bialoblocki of Poland won all three of the sprints during the stage to claim the UAE Jersey.
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