The UAE's first involvement at the Rio Olympic Games ended on Saturday as Yousif Mirza participated in the 237.5-kilometre road race, one of the Games first big events. The Emirati was not given a finishing classification due to exceeding the race's time limit.
As it happened, the race finished with a dramatic denouement.
Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet eventually won gold in a thrilling three-way sprint finish, edging past Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang in the final 100m. Rafal Majka, from Poland, finished with the bronze.
Van Avermaet, 31, is a seasoned rider and wore the yellow jersey during the Tour de France for a few days last month, and has a number of Classics wins.
“This is the best title you can have, Olympic champion,” Van Avermaet said. “I had a great day and everything went perfect in the final 15km. Lots of guys crashed trying to take risks. I just kept it safe, stayed focus, I knew I had a good sprint. I caught [Rafal] Majka, and I knew I had the best sprint of the final two.”
The permutation of that final three was only possible after Vincenzo Nibali, the Giro d’Italia winner, crashed out on the final descent of the course with less than 15km to go. Nibali was one of the race favourites, given the number of climbs the course had and he was not the only rider to crash during the race – Team GB’s Geraint Thomas fell soon after Nibali, but managed to brush himself off, get back up and finish the race.
The crash left Majka in the lead, though he was quickly hauled down by Van Avermaet and Fuglsang.
There was non-cycling drama during the race as a bomb squad blew up an unattended bag near the finish line in a controlled explosion.
For Mirza, the UAE's best rider, the target was always to try and break away early. "I want to be in an early breakaway," he told The National on Friday, "and to show our flag at the front."
“It’s a great feeling to be here and the opening ceremony was a special moment. I hope it’s not the last time for me at the Olympics.”
osamiuddin@thenational.ae
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