2016 Abu Dhabi Tour (HC),
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

2nd edition: Oct 20 - Oct 23, 2016

Abu Dhabi Tour index page | 2015 edition | 2017 edition | Start list
Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4

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Sunday, October 23: 4th and Final Stage, Yas Marina Circuit, 23 lap, 143 km

Stage 3 map and profile

Mark Cavendish wins the final stage, run under the lights.

The Race: Here's the story from stage winner Mark Cavendish's Dimension Data team.

The final stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour brought our 2016 season to a close and Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka couldn’t have asked for a better ending as Mark Cavendish sprinted to victory, thanks to a perfect leadout by our African Team.

The final stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour took place under the lights of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi this evening. The peloton lined up for 26 laps of the flat 5.5km circuit, with a sprint finale on everyone’s mind. Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka were fully concentrated on delivering Mark Cavendish to what would be our 32nd victory of the season and so when a 5-rider break went clear early on, we had no problem helping to control the pace.

Jay Thomson and Mekseb Debesay were rolling through with the Astana Team, who were riding in defence of the overall race lead. This would be the case for around 120km and then our African Team just took full control of proceedings for the final 25km. Thomson and Debesay relayed at the head of affairs to close the 1’15” gap to the lead riders while Cavendish lined up behind his lead out team of Bernie Eisel, Youcef Reguigui and Mark Renshaw. Thomson and Debesay were truly phenomenal, only pulling off of the front with 7km to go when the last of the breakaway riders were brought back into the fold.

Eisel then captained our train as we started the final lap, keeping our Manxman well placed heading into the final few corners. Eisel hit the front with 2km to go and when he was done, Reguigui followed with his maximal effort. Despite a Giant-Alpecin rider slipping into our train before the final corner at 300m to go, it was like poetry in motion watching our African Team perfect the finale. Renshaw led through the last right-hander and when the road opened for Cavendish, there was no stopping the Manx Missle from winning on the home straight. The stage podium was completed by Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) and Elia Viviani (Team Sky) respectively.

It was a beautiful stage win to end off what has been a fantastic season for Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka, made sweeter with Cavendish also winning the Abu Dhabi Tour green points jersey.

Mark Cavendish – Rider: The stage was left to Dimension Data to control, none of the other sprint teams wanted to help at all which was quite strange because we have won a stage and they haven’t. Nevertheless, we have the two strongest guys in the race to pull on the front in Mekseb and Jay. They just controlled the break incredibly and stayed so long that the leadout could take over easily. They gave us stability at the front and I had Bernie, Youcef and Mark to lead me out in the final 2km and they did an incredible job. It was important to be at the front because there was a lot of wind and a lot of corners. Giant nearly got the jump on us so I thought it would do me a favour if one of them gets in between myself and Mark, so I let him in but he couldn’t hold Mark’s wheel in the sprint. I was still able to use his slingshot and then Mark’s slingshot in front to accelerate in the last 200 meters. I am really happy to have won the stage again. It’s another win and good exposure for our sponsors and Qhubeka, so it was really nice to be able to do that.

Complete Results:

143 kilometers raced at an average speed of 45.703 km/hr

1	Mark CAVENDISH	Dimension Data	3hr 7min 44sec
2	Giacomo NIZZOLO	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
3	Elia VIVIANI	Sky	s.t.
4	Magnus Cort NIELSEN	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
5	Jean-Pierre DRUCKER	BMC	s.t.
6	Ramon SINKELDAM	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
7	Michael MATTHEWS	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
8	Sacha MODOLO	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
9	Mark RENSHAW	Dimension Data	s.t.
10	Michal KOLÁR	Tinkoff	s.t.
11	Andrea GUARDINI	Astana	s.t.
12	Christopher LATHAM	Team Wiggins	s.t.
13	Steele VON HOFF	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
14	Roman MAIKIN	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
15	Jakub MARECZKO	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
16	Koen DE KORT	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
17	Jelle WALLAYS	Lotto-Soudal	@ 6sec
18	Siarhei PAPOK	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.
19	Diego ULISSI	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
20	Vincenzo NIBALI	Astana	s.t.
21	Nicolas ROCHE	Sky	s.t.
22	Karol DOMAGALSKI	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
23	Tanel KANGERT	Astana	s.t.
24	Dayer Uberney QUINTANA	Movistar	s.t.
25	John DEGENKOLB	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
26	Alexander KOLOBNEV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
27	Owain DOULL	Sky	s.t.
28	Julien BERNARD	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
29	Luka PIBERNIK	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
30	Davide REBELLIN	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
31	Alan BANASZEK	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
32	Martijn TUSVELD	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
33	Winner ANACONA	Movistar	s.t.
34	Alberto CONTADOR	Tinkoff	s.t.
35	Jesper HANSEN	Tinkoff	s.t.
36	Dion SMITH	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
37	Floris GERFS	BMC	s.t.
38	Jan POLANC	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
39	Daniel PEARSON	Team Wiggins	s.t.
40	Yousef BANIHAMMAD	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
41	Chun Kai FENG	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
42	Ben HERMANS	BMC	s.t.
43	Erik BASKA	Tinkoff	s.t.
44	Juraj SAGAN	Tinkoff	16
45	Jaber ALMANSOORI	Al Nasr Dubai	17
46	Stanislau BAZHKOU	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.
47	Jens KEUKELEIRE	Orica-BikeExchange	20
48	Filippo POZZATO	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
49	Manuel BELLETTI	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
50	Michael O'LOUGHLIN	Team Wiggins	s.t.
51	Thomas DE GENDT	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
52	Danny VAN POPPEL	Sky	s.t.
53	Kanstantsin KLIMIANKOU	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.
54	Matteo DRAPERI	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
55	Eugert ZHUPA	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
56	Gatis SMUKULIS	Astana	s.t.
57	Ahmed ALMANSORY	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
58	Carlos Alberto BETANCUR	Movistar	s.t.
59	Jesus HERNANDEZ	Tinkoff	s.t.
60	Andrey AMADOR	Movistar	s.t.
61	Jan HIRT	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
62	Michael SCHÄR	BMC	s.t.
63	Sander ARMEE	Lotto-Soudal	28
64	Lukasz OWSIAN	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
65	Maciej PATERSKI	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
66	Hayden MCCORMICK	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
67	Tom BOHLI	BMC	s.t.
68	Youcef REGUIGUI	Dimension Data	31
69	Andrew FENN	Sky	s.t.
70	Marco COLEDAN	Trek-Segafredo	33
71	Jonathan DIBBEN	Team Wiggins	s.t.
72	James Knox	Team Wiggins	35
73	Tobias LUDVIGSSON	Giant-Alpecin	37
74	Andrei SOLOMENNIKOV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
75	Majid ALBALUSHI	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
76	Samuel WILLIAMS	ONE Pro Cycling	41
77	Jelle VANENDERT	Lotto-Soudal	45
78	Bernhard EISEL	Dimension Data	+1:03
79	Greg VAN AVERMAET	BMC	+1:06
80	Badr ALHAMMADI	Al Nasr Dubai	+1:19
81	Anton IVASHKIN	Minsk Cycling Club	+1:22
82	Zico WAEYTENS	Giant-Alpecin	+1:26
83	Mekseb DEBESAY	Dimension Data	+1:46
84	Sergey FIRSANOV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
85	Evgeny SHALUNOV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	+1:54
86	Artem NYCH	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
87	Niccolo BONIFAZIO	Trek-Segafredo	+1:55
88	Kiel REIJNEN	Trek-Segafredo	+2:09
89	Carlos VERONA	Orica-BikeExchange	+2:11
90	Mitchell DOCKER	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
91	Nasser ALMEMARI	Al Nasr Dubai	+2:22
92	Valerio AGNOLI	Astana	+2:24
93	Frederik FRISON	Lotto-Soudal	+2:25
94	Andrew TENNANT	Team Wiggins	+2:36
95	Jacopo MOSCA	Trek-Segafredo	+2:50
96	Floris GERFS	BMC	+2:52
97	Alessandro VANOTTI	Astana	+2:58
98	Jay Robert THOMSON	Dimension Data	s.t.
99	Kristian HOUSE	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
100	Michal PALUTA	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
101	Yauhen SOBAL	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.
102	Oleksandr GOLOVASH	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.

Final GC after Stage 4:

555 kilometers raced at an average speed of 44.545 km/hr

1	Tanel KANGERT	Astana	12hr 27min 34sec
2	Nicolas ROCHE	Sky	@ 21sec
3	Diego ULISSI	Lampre-Merida	43
4	Vincenzo NIBALI	Astana	+1:00
5	Alberto CONTADOR	Tinkoff	s.t.
6	Julien BERNARD	Trek-Segafredo	+1:02
7	Ben HERMANS	BMC	+1:29
8	Martijn TUSVELD	Giant-Alpecin	+1:38
9	Winner ANACONA	Movistar	s.t.
10	Jesper HANSEN	Tinkoff	s.t.
11	Daniel PEARSON	Team Wiggins	+2:19
12	Karol DOMAGALSKI	ONE Pro Cycling	+2:28
13	Jelle WALLAYS	Lotto-Soudal	+2:32
14	Davide REBELLIN	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+2:41
15	Dayer Uberney QUINTANA	Movistar	+2:53
16	Dion SMITH	ONE Pro Cycling	+2:58
17	Jens KEUKELEIRE	Orica-BikeExchange	+3:07
18	Alexander KOLOBNEV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	+3:45
19	Hayden MCCORMICK	ONE Pro Cycling	+4:12
20	Koen DE KORT	Giant-Alpecin	+4:43
21	Mekseb DEBESAY	Dimension Data	+5:36
22	Carlos VERONA	Orica-BikeExchange	+6:21
23	Michael MATTHEWS	Orica-BikeExchange	+6:43
24	Tobias LUDVIGSSON	Giant-Alpecin	+7:36
25	Mark CAVENDISH	Dimension Data	+8:22
26	Jacopo MOSCA	Trek-Segafredo	+9:18
27	Michael SCHÄR	BMC	+9:59
28	Christopher LATHAM	Team Wiggins	+12:19
29	Magnus Cort NIELSEN	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
30	Jean-Pierre DRUCKER	BMC	s.t.
31	Steele VON HOFF	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
32	Roman MAIKIN	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
33	Siarhei PAPOK	Minsk Cycling Club	+12:25
34	Luka PIBERNIK	Lampre-Merida	+12:28
35	Floris GERFS	BMC	+12:28
36	Michael O'LOUGHLIN	Team Wiggins	+12:41
37	Filippo POZZATO	Wilier Triestina	+12:42
38	Eugert ZHUPA	Wilier Triestina	+12:53
39	Greg VAN AVERMAET	BMC	+13:24
40	Giacomo NIZZOLO	Trek-Segafredo	+13:32
41	Youcef REGUIGUI	Dimension Data	+13:39
42	Carlos Alberto BETANCUR	Movistar	+15:00
43	Jan POLANC	Lampre-Merida	+15:06
44	Jan HIRT	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+15:13
45	Lukasz OWSIAN	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+15:15
46	Jaber ALMANSOORI	Al Nasr Dubai	+15:17
47	Jesus HERNANDEZ	Tinkoff	+15:20
48	Andrey AMADOR	Movistar	+15:24
49	Mitchell DOCKER	Orica-BikeExchange	+15:51
50	Maciej PATERSKI	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+16:14
51	Sergey FIRSANOV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	+16:44
52	Kanstantsin KLIMIANKOU	Minsk Cycling Club	+17:42
53	John DEGENKOLB	Giant-Alpecin	+17:48
54	Ramon SINKELDAM	Giant-Alpecin	+17:56
55	Elia VIVIANI	Sky	+18:38
56	Andrea GUARDINI	Astana	+18:44
57	Andrei SOLOMENNIKOV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
58	Yousef BANIHAMMAD	Al Nasr Dubai	+18:54
59	Chun Kai FENG	Lampre-Merida	+18:57
60	Ahmed ALMANSORY	Al Nasr Dubai	+19:11
61	Manuel BELLETTI	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
62	Frederik FRISON	Lotto-Soudal	+19:12
63	Bernhard EISEL	Dimension Data	+19:25
64	Sacha MODOLO	Lampre-Merida	+19:31
65	Marco COLEDAN	Trek-Segafredo	+19:39
66	Samuel WILLIAMS	ONE Pro Cycling	+19:49
67	Yauhen SOBAL	Minsk Cycling Club	+20:03
68	Gatis SMUKULIS	Astana	+20:06
69	Michal PALUTA	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+20:09
70	Thomas DE GENDT	Lotto-Soudal	+20:10
71	Sander ARMEE	Lotto-Soudal	+20:18
72	Evgeny SHALUNOV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	+20:45
73	Alan BANASZEK	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+20:46
74	Michal KOLÁR	Tinkoff	+20:50
75	Mark RENSHAW	Dimension Data	+20:51
76	Zico WAEYTENS	Giant-Alpecin	+21:07
77	Tom BOHLI	BMC	+21:29
78	Artem NYCH	Gazprom-Rusvelo	+21:37
79	Stanislau BAZHKOU	Minsk Cycling Club	+22:31
80	Badr ALHAMMADI	Al Nasr Dubai	+22:32
81	Jelle VANENDERT	Lotto-Soudal	+22:38
82	Majid ALBALUSHI	Al Nasr Dubai	+22:58
83	Jakub MARECZKO	Wilier Triestina	+23:05
84	Erik BASKA	Tinkoff	+23:32
85	Oleksandr GOLOVASH	Minsk Cycling Club	+23:38
86	Andrew FENN	Sky	+23:39
87	Juraj SAGAN	Tinkoff	+23:41
88	Matteo DRAPERI	Wilier Triestina	+23:49
89	James Knox	Team Wiggins	+24:00
90	Jonathan DIBBEN	Team Wiggins	+24:12
91	Anton IVASHKIN	Minsk Cycling Club	+24:30
92	Danny VAN POPPEL	Sky	+24:48
93	Owain DOULL	Sky	+24:51
94	Kiel REIJNEN	Trek-Segafredo	+25:17
95	Kristian HOUSE	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
96	Valerio AGNOLI	Astana	+25:19
97	Andrew TENNANT	Team Wiggins	+26:05
98	Alessandro VANOTTI	Astana	+26:53
99	Jay Robert THOMSON	Dimension Data	+26:55
100	Niccolo BONIFAZIO	Trek-Segafredo	+29:05
101	Nasser ALMEMARI	Al Nasr Dubai	+29:59
102	Michal KWIATKOWSKI	Sky	+30:42

Stage 4 map and profile

Stage 4 map

Stage 4 profile

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Saturday, October 22: Stage 3, Al Ain - Jebel Hafeet, 150 km

Stage 3 map & profile | Stage 3 photos

Tanel Kangert wins Abu Dhabi Tour stage 3

The Race: Here's the organizer's stage 3 report:

Jebel Hafeet, 22 October 2016 –The Estonian rider Tanel Kangert (Astana Pro Team) won Stage 3 - the Strata Stage - of the Abu Dhabi Tour, Al Ain - Jebel Hafeet (150km), and took the lead in the overall General Classification.

Tanel Kangert (Astana Pro Team) claimed a well deserved victory in the queen stage of the second Abu Dhabi Tour as Vincenzo Nibali decided to give a chance to his faithful domestique who has played a key role in many of his great successes. In a day of echelons on the way to the famous mountain Jebel Hafeet, Kangert and Nicolas Roche (Team Sky) took the opportunity to come across to lone leader Carlos Verona (Orica-BikeExchange) 6.5km before the summit. Kangert rode away solo with 3.2km to go to take over from Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data) in the lead of the overall ranking on the eve of the conclusive stage.

In the press conference, the winner and Red Jersey Tanel Kangert said: "I have to thank my team for the freedom they gave me for this race. We had two cards to play. It sounds like a cliché to thank the team but it’s true, we rode from the beginning and I reached the climb fresh. Vincenzo Nibali did a good job behind me. We’ve had four good years together. He’s a captain who gives a lot of confidence to his team-mates. I’ve never raced that late in the year. I’ve never had so many kilometres in my legs in the same season. I can’t wait to go home but I’ll go home happy because I came with the ambition of making the top 10, maybe the top 5 if I was being lucky, so to win here is beyond expectations".

After the stage, the Green Jersey, Mark Cavendish, said: "I was very happy to be in the Abu Dhabi Sports Council red jersey today. It was very nice to wear it. As a team, we had another good ride. Meksem Debesay has been riding at the front these last two days and he was able to compete with the best climbers uphill today. I’m happy to keep the green jersey and I hope to retain it tomorrow as well".

The White Jersey, Julien Bernard, said: "I usually manage to maintain a good level of fitness until the very end of the season, with not putting on weight or losing motivation, so the team decided to send me here, firstly to help Giacomo [Nizzolo] in the sprints, secondly to play my own cards on this climb. That’s what we did. I stayed under pressure till the Abu Dhabi Tour so I’m delighted to get the white jersey here today".

The Black Jersey, Jens Keukeleire, said: "I’m happy with one more day in the black jersey. But after two stages in the breakaway, I took an easy day today. I didn’t really want to go away again today. I had a look at who was making a move and it was ok for me to keep the black jersey".

Complete Results:

Photos

1	Tanel KANGERT	Astana	3hr 31min 31sec
2	Nicolas ROCHE	Sky	@ 17sec
3	Mekseb DEBESAY	Dimension Data	33
4	Diego ULISSI	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
5	Alberto CONTADOR	Tinkoff	50
6	Vincenzo NIBALI	Astana	s.t.
7	Julien BERNARD	Trek-Segafredo	52
8	Ben HERMANS	BMC	+1:19
9	Martijn TUSVELD	Giant-Alpecin	+1:28
10	Jesper HANSEN	Tinkoff	s.t.
11	Winner ANACONA	Movistar	s.t.
12	Jelle WALLAYS	Lotto-Soudal	+2:05
13	Daniel PEARSON	Team Wiggins	+2:09
14	Karol DOMAGALSKI	ONE Pro Cycling	+2:18
15	Jacopo MOSCA	Trek-Segafredo	+2:31
16	Davide REBELLIN	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
17	Dayer Uberney QUINTANA	Movistar	+2:43
18	Dion SMITH	ONE Pro Cycling	+2:55
19	Jens KEUKELEIRE	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
20	Alexander KOLOBNEV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	+3:38
21	Hayden MCCORMICK	ONE Pro Cycling	+3:40
22	Koen DE KORT	Giant-Alpecin	+4:04
23	Carlos VERONA	Orica-BikeExchange	+4:06
24	Tobias LUDVIGSSON	Giant-Alpecin	+4:36
25	Michael MATTHEWS	Orica-BikeExchange	+6:40
26	Mark CAVENDISH	Dimension Data	+8:45
27	Michael SCHÄR	BMC	+9:35
28	Siarhei PAPOK	Minsk Cycling Club	+12:18
29	Steele VON HOFF	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
30	Filippo POZZATO	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
31	Youcef REGUIGUI	Dimension Data	s.t.
32	Christopher LATHAM	Team Wiggins	s.t.
33	Greg VAN AVERMAET	BMC	s.t.
34	Eugert ZHUPA	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
35	Luka PIBERNIK	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
36	Michael O'LOUGHLIN	Team Wiggins	s.t.
37	Frederik FRISON	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
38	Roman MAIKIN	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
39	Lukasz OWSIAN	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
40	Floris GERFS	BMC	s.t.
41	Jean-Pierre DRUCKER	BMC	s.t.
42	Magnus Cort NIELSEN	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
43	Jan HIRT	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+12:23
44	Mitchell DOCKER	Orica-BikeExchange	+13:19
45	Giacomo NIZZOLO	Trek-Segafredo	+13:48
46	Carlos Alberto BETANCUR	Movistar	+14:17
47	Maciej PATERSKI	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+14:28
48	Michal PALUTA	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
49	Jaber ALMANSOORI	Al Nasr Dubai	+14:56
50	Sander ARMEE	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
51	Thomas DE GENDT	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
52	Sergey FIRSANOV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
53	Jesus HERNANDEZ	Tinkoff	s.t.
54	Jan POLANC	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
55	Andrey AMADOR	Movistar	+15:00
56	Gatis SMUKULIS	Astana	+15:14
57	Kiel REIJNEN	Trek-Segafredo	+15:29
58	Bernhard EISEL	Dimension Data	s.t.
59	Yauhen SOBAL	Minsk Cycling Club	+17:04
60	Kanstantsin KLIMIANKOU	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.
61	Andrei SOLOMENNIKOV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
62	Zico WAEYTENS	Giant-Alpecin	+17:43
63	John DEGENKOLB	Giant-Alpecin	+17:47
64	Ramon SINKELDAM	Giant-Alpecin	+17:55
65	Andrea GUARDINI	Astana	+18:47
66	Elia VIVIANI	Sky	s.t.
67	Manuel BELLETTI	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
68	Yousef BANIHAMMAD	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
69	Marco COLEDAN	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
70	Samuel WILLIAMS	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
71	Edward RAVASI	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
72	Chun Kai FENG	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
73	Ahmed ALMANSORY	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
74	Evgeny SHALUNOV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
75	Artem NYCH	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
76	Jelle VANENDERT	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
77	Stanislau BAZHKOU	Minsk Cycling Club	+19:04
78	Sacha MODOLO	Lampre-Merida	+19:14
79	Jay Robert THOMSON	Dimension Data	+20:26
80	Kristian HOUSE	ONE Pro Cycling	+20:28
81	Tom BOHLI	BMC	+20:36
82	Oleksandr GOLOVASH	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.
83	Mark RENSHAW	Dimension Data	s.t.
84	Alan BANASZEK	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
85	Michal KOLÁR	Tinkoff	+20:49
86	Badr MOHAMED ALHAMMADI	Al Nasr Dubai	+21:09
87	Valerio AGNOLI	Astana	+22:09
88	Majid ALBALUSHI	Al Nasr Dubai	+22:17
89	Jakub MARECZKO	Wilier Triestina	+23:04
90	Alessandro VANOTTI	Astana	s.t.
91	Danny VAN POPPEL	Sky	s.t.
92	Matteo DRAPERI	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
93	Nasser ALMEMARI	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
94	Anton IVASHKIN	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.
95	Owain DOULL	Sky	s.t.
96	Andrew FENN	Sky	s.t.
97	Jonathan DIBBEN	Team Wiggins	s.t.
98	James Knox	Team Wiggins	s.t.
99	Andrew TENNANT	Team Wiggins	s.t.
100	Michal KWIATKOWSKI	Sky	+23:09
101	Niccolo BONIFAZIO	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
102	Juraj SAGAN	Tinkoff	+23:21
103	Erik BASKA	Tinkoff	+23:25

GC after Stage 3:

1	Tanel KANGERT	Astana	9hr 19min 44sec
2	Nicolas ROCHE	Sky	@ 21sec
3	Diego ULISSI	Lampre-Merida	43
4	Vincenzo NIBALI	Astana	+1:00
5	Alberto CONTADOR	Tinkoff	s.t.
6	Julien BERNARD	Trek-Segafredo	+1:02
7	Ben HERMANS	BMC	+1:29
8	Martijn TUSVELD	Giant-Alpecin	+1:38
9	Winner ANACONA	Movistar	s.t.
10	Jesper HANSEN	Tinkoff	s.t.
11	Daniel PEARSON	Team Wiggins	+2:19
12	Karol DOMAGALSKI	ONE Pro Cycling	+2:28
13	Jelle WALLAYS	Lotto-Soudal	+2:32
14	Davide REBELLIN	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+2:41
15	Jens KEUKELEIRE	Orica-BikeExchange	+2:53
16	Dayer Uberney QUINTANA	Movistar	s.t.
17	Dion SMITH	ONE Pro Cycling	+2:58
18	Alexander KOLOBNEV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	+3:45
19	Hayden MCCORMICK	ONE Pro Cycling	+3:50
20	Mekseb DEBESAY	Dimension Data	+3:56
21	Carlos VERONA	Orica-BikeExchange	+4:16
22	Koen DE KORT	Giant-Alpecin	+4:49
23	Jacopo MOSCA	Trek-Segafredo	+6:34
24	Michael MATTHEWS	Orica-BikeExchange	+6:49
25	Tobias LUDVIGSSON	Giant-Alpecin	+7:05
26	Mark CAVENDISH	Dimension Data	+8:38
27	Michael SCHÄR	BMC	+9:45
28	Greg VAN AVERMAET	BMC	+12:24
29	Christopher LATHAM	Team Wiggins	+12:25
30	Steele VON HOFF	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
31	Jean-Pierre DRUCKER	BMC	s.t.
32	Magnus Cort NIELSEN	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
33	Roman MAIKIN	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
34	Siarhei PAPOK	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.
35	Michael O'LOUGHLIN	Team Wiggins	+12:27
36	Luka PIBERNIK	Lampre-Merida	+12:28
37	Floris GERFS	BMC	s.t.
38	Filippo POZZATO	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
39	Eugert ZHUPA	Wilier Triestina	+12:39
40	Youcef REGUIGUI	Dimension Data	+13:14
41	Giacomo NIZZOLO	Trek-Segafredo	+13:44
42	Mitchell DOCKER	Orica-BikeExchange	+13:46
43	Carlos Alberto BETANCUR	Movistar	+14:46
44	Lukasz OWSIAN	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+14:53
45	Jan HIRT	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+14:59
46	Jaber ALMANSOORI	Al Nasr Dubai	+15:06
47	Jan POLANC	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
48	Sergey FIRSANOV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
49	Jesus HERNANDEZ	Tinkoff	s.t.
50	Andrey AMADOR	Movistar	+15:10
51	Maciej PATERSKI	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+15:52
52	Frederik FRISON	Lotto-Soudal	+16:57
53	Yauhen SOBAL	Minsk Cycling Club	+17:14
54	Michal PALUTA	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+17:17
55	Kanstantsin KLIMIANKOU	Minsk Cycling Club	+17:28
56	John DEGENKOLB	Giant-Alpecin	+17:48
57	Ramon SINKELDAM	Giant-Alpecin	+18:02
58	Andrei SOLOMENNIKOV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	+18:13
59	Bernhard EISEL	Dimension Data	+18:28
60	Elia VIVIANI	Sky	+18:48
61	Andrea GUARDINI	Astana	+18:50
62	Yousef BANIHAMMAD	Al Nasr Dubai	+18:54
63	Chun Kai FENG	Lampre-Merida	+18:57
64	Edward RAVASI	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
65	Ahmed ALMANSORY	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
66	Manuel BELLETTI	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
67	Evgeny SHALUNOV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
68	Marco COLEDAN	Trek-Segafredo	+19:12
69	Samuel WILLIAMS	ONE Pro Cycling	+19:14
70	Sacha MODOLO	Lampre-Merida	+19:37
71	Zico WAEYTENS	Giant-Alpecin	+19:47
72	Artem NYCH	Gazprom-Rusvelo	+19:49
73	Gatis SMUKULIS	Astana	+19:52
74	Thomas DE GENDT	Lotto-Soudal	+19:56
75	Sander ARMEE	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
76	Alan BANASZEK	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+20:46
77	Oleksandr GOLOVASH	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.
78	Michal KOLÁR	Tinkoff	+20:56
79	Mark RENSHAW	Dimension Data	+20:57
80	Tom BOHLI	BMC	+21:07
81	Badr MOHAMED ALHAMMADI	Al Nasr Dubai	+21:19
82	Jelle VANENDERT	Lotto-Soudal	+21:59
83	Stanislau BAZHKOU	Minsk Cycling Club	+22:20
84	Majid ALBALUSHI	Al Nasr Dubai	+22:27
85	Kristian HOUSE	ONE Pro Cycling	+22:34
86	Valerio AGNOLI	Astana	+23:01
87	Jakub MARECZKO	Wilier Triestina	+23:11
88	Anton IVASHKIN	Minsk Cycling Club	+23:14
89	Andrew FENN	Sky	s.t.
90	Kiel REIJNEN	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
91	Juraj SAGAN	Tinkoff	+23:31
92	James Knox	Team Wiggins	s.t.
93	Erik BASKA	Tinkoff	+23:32
94	Matteo DRAPERI	Wilier Triestina	+23:35
95	Andrew TENNANT	Team Wiggins	s.t.
96	Jonathan DIBBEN	Team Wiggins	+23:45
97	Alessandro VANOTTI	Astana	+24:01
98	Jay Robert THOMSON	Dimension Data	+24:03
99	Danny VAN POPPEL	Sky	+24:34
100	Owain DOULL	Sky	+24:51
101	Niccolo BONIFAZIO	Trek-Segafredo	+27:16
102	Nasser ALMEMARI	Al Nasr Dubai	+27:43
103	Michal KWIATKOWSKI	Sky	+27:56

Stage 3 map and profile:

Stage 3 map

Stage 3 profile

Stage 3 photos

Team BMC is presented before the stage start. Sirotti photo

Overnight race leader Mark Cavendish heads to the start line. Sirotti photo

It's about time to race. Sirotti photo

View of the final ascent. Sirotti photo

Another view. Sirotti photo

Tanel Kangert wins the stage and become the new GC leader. Sirotti photo

Nicolas Roche finished second. Sirotti photo

Mekseb Debesey and Diego Ulissi were third and fourth. Sirotti photo.

Tanel Kangert is the new race leader. Sirotti photo.

---

Friday, Oct 21: Stage 2, Abu Dhabi - Abu Dhabi, 115 km

Stage 2 map & profile | Stage 2 photos

Mark Cavendish wins stage 2

The Race: Here's how winner Mark Cavendish's Dimension Data saw the stage.

Mark Cavendish showed his class on stage 2 of the Abu Dhabi Tour by sprinting to the stage win and into the overall race leaders jersey in Abu Dhabi. Elia Viviani (Team Sky) finished in 2nd place and Andrea Gaurdini (Astana) was 3rd.

It was a short stage that greeted the Abu Dhabi Tour peloton on stage 2 with only 115km to be raced around the city streets of Abu Dhabi. Once again an early breakaway ramped up the speed of the stage with 6 riders going clear. As was the case yesterday, our African Team placed Mekseb Debesay on the front of the peloton from early on and the Eritrean went on to do a fantastic job today controlling the gap.

Working together with Giant-Alpecin and Trek-Segafredo, our African Team was able to keep the gap under the 3-minute mark. One would have thought that the other sprint teams would have then been interested in giving their fast men a chance at the win by contributing to the chase, but it was not to be. This nearly saw the leaders survive to the finish but thanks to the strength and persistence of Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka, Giant-Alpecin and Trek-Segafredo the leaders were caught with 1km to go.

Team Sky and CCC Sprandi used fresh legs to lead out the sprint with their numbers advantage but Mark Renshaw did a fantastic job to bring Mark Cavendish into position at 300m to go. From there the Manxman could slip onto the wheel of Viviani just before the final right hand bend. Viviani hit out with the line in sight but Cavendish was able to come off his wheel with more speed and surged ahead to take a fine win.

The stage win saw Mark Cavendish move into the overall race lead as well as into the lead in the points jersey competition, after his 3rd place during yesterday’s stage.

Mark Cavendish – Rider: "I am really happy with today, to get the win after going so close yesterday. It was touch and go as to whether the break would be caught but the team rode hard up front. Mark gave me a good leadout, it was only going to be difficult because we didn’t have the full team at the end. Mark got me onto Sky before the last corner which was perfect because I was able to come around Elia Viviani to get the win."

Complete Results:

115 kilometers raced at an average speed of 45.290 km/hr

Stage 2 photos

1	Mark CAVENDISH	Dimension  Data	2hr 32min 21sec
2	Elia VIVIANI	Sky	s.t.
3	Andrea GUARDINI	Astana	s.t.
4	Jakub MARECZKO	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
5	Jean-Pierre DRUCKER	BMC	s.t.
6	Giacomo NIZZOLO	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
7	Christopher LATHAM	Team Wiggins	s.t.
8	Michal KOLÁR	Tinkoff	s.t.
9	Steele VON HOFF	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
10	Magnus Cort NIELSEN	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
11	André GREIPEL	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
12	Alan BANASZEK	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
13	Erik BASKA	Tinkoff	s.t.
14	Roman MAIKIN	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
15	Siarhei PAPOK	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.
16	Yousef BANIHAMMAD	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
17	Jens KEUKELEIRE	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
18	Chun Kai FENG	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
19	Alexander KOLOBNEV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
20	Andrew FENN	Sky	s.t.
21	Dion SMITH	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
22	Luka PIBERNIK	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
23	Ben HERMANS	BMC	s.t.
24	Michael O'LOUGHLIN	Team Wiggins	s.t.
25	Floris GERFS	BMC	s.t.
26	Michael SCHÄR	BMC	s.t.
27	Diego ULISSI	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
28	Carlos VERONA	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
29	Matteo DRAPERI	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
30	John DEGENKOLB	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
31	Nicolas ROCHE	Sky	s.t.
32	Yauhen SOBAL	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.
33	Davide REBELLIN	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
34	Hayden McCORMICK	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
35	Edward RAVASI	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
36	Gatis SMUKULIS	Astana	s.t.
37	Anton IVASHKIN	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.
38	Sacha MODOLO	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
39	Daniel PEARSON	Team Wiggins	s.t.
40	Martijn TUSVELD	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
41	Jaber ALMANSOORI	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
42	Tanel KANGERT	Astana	s.t.
43	Ahmed ALMANSORY	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
44	Jan POLANC	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
45	Winner ANACONA	Movistar	s.t.
46	Nasser ALMEMARI	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
47	Greg VAN AVERMAET	BMC	s.t.
48	Michael MATTHEWS	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
49	Jelle WALLAYS	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
50	Frederik FRISON	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
51	Sergey FIRSANOV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
52	Dayer Uberney QUINTANA	Movistar	s.t.
53	Alberto CONTADOR	Tinkoff	s.t.
54	Vincenzo NIBALI	Astana	s.t.
55	James Knox	Team Wiggins	s.t.
56	Jesper HANSEN	Tinkoff	s.t.
57	Julien BERNARD	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
58	Ramon SINKELDAM	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
59	Andrey AMADOR	Movistar	s.t.
60	Karol DOMAGALSKI	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
61	Mitchell DOCKER	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
62	Manuel BELLETTI	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
63	Andrew TENNANT	Team Wiggins	s.t.
64	Badr MOHAMED ALHAMMADI	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
65	Filippo POZZATO	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
66	Juan Jose LOBATO	Movistar	s.t.
67	Jesus HERNANDEZ	Tinkoff	s.t.
68	Majid ALBALUSHI	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
69	Evgeny SHALUNOV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
70	Oleksandr GOLOVASH	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.
71	Juraj SAGAN	Tinkoff	s.t.
72	Samuel WILLIAMS	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
73	Tom BOHLI	BMC	s.t.
74	Kanstantsin KLIMIANKOU	Minsk Cycling Club	@ 14sec
75	Eugert ZHUPA	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
76	Mark RENSHAW	Dimension  Data	s.t.
77	Owain DOULL	Sky	s.t.
78	Carlos Alberto BETANCUR	Movistar	19
79	Thomas DE GENDT	Lotto-Soudal	21
80	Sander ARMEE	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
81	Valerio AGNOLI	Astana	s.t.
82	Marco COLEDAN	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
83	Artem NYCH	Gazprom-Rusvelo	31
84	Andrei SOLOMENNIKOV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
85	Jonathan DIBBEN	Team Wiggins	34
86	Koen DE KORT	Giant-Alpecin	35
87	Youcef REGUIGUI	Dimension  Data	s.t.
88	Michal PALUTA	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	39
89	Alessandro VANOTTI	Astana	47
90	Tobias LUDVIGSSON	Giant-Alpecin	48
91	Bernhard EISEL	Dimension  Data	+1:01
92	Francisco José VENTOSO	Movistar	+1:09
93	Maciej PATERSKI	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+1:14
94	Danny VAN POPPEL	Sky	+1:20
95	Zico WAEYTENS	Giant-Alpecin	+1:33
96	Kristian HOUSE	ONE Pro Cycling	+1:35
97	Jan HIRT	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+2:09
98	Lukasz OWSIAN	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+2:25
99	Jelle VANENDERT	Lotto-Soudal	+2:45
100	Niccolo BONIFAZIO	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
101	Mekseb DEBESAY	Dimension  Data	+3:06
102	Jay Robert THOMSON	Dimension  Data	s.t.
103	Michal KWIATKOWSKI	Sky	s.t.
104	Kiel REIJNEN	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
105	Jacopo MOSCA	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
106	Stanislau BAZHKOU	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.

GC after Stage 2:

262 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 45.159 km/hr

1	Mark CAVENDISH	Dimension  Data	5hr 48min 6sec
2	Giacomo NIZZOLO	Trek-Segafredo	@ 4sec
3	Jens KEUKELEIRE	Orica-BikeExchange	5
4	Elia VIVIANI	Sky	8
5	John DEGENKOLB	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
6	Andrea GUARDINI	Astana	10
7	Dion SMITH	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
8	Christopher LATHAM	Team Wiggins	14
9	Jean-Pierre DRUCKER	BMC	s.t.
10	Michal KOLÁR	Tinkoff	s.t.
11	Magnus Cort NIELSEN	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
12	Jakub MARECZKO	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
13	Steele VON HOFF	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
14	Roman MAIKIN	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
15	Erik BASKA	Tinkoff	s.t.
16	Yousef BANIHAMMAD	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
17	Siarhei PAPOK	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.
18	Alexander KOLOBNEV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
19	Ramon SINKELDAM	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
20	Michael MATTHEWS	Orica-BikeExchange	16
21	André GREIPEL	Lotto-Soudal	17
22	Alan BANASZEK	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
23	Floris GERFS	BMC	s.t.
24	Luka PIBERNIK	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
25	Diego ULISSI	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
26	Hayden McCORMICK	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
27	Nicolas ROCHE	Sky	s.t.
28	Ben HERMANS	BMC	s.t.
29	Chun Kai FENG	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
30	Michael SCHÄR	BMC	s.t.
31	Tanel KANGERT	Astana	s.t.
32	Greg VAN AVERMAET	BMC	s.t.
33	Jan POLANC	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
34	Anton IVASHKIN	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.
35	Carlos VERONA	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
36	Jaber ALMANSOORI	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
37	Davide REBELLIN	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
38	Vincenzo NIBALI	Astana	s.t.
39	Dayer Uberney QUINTANA	Movistar	s.t.
40	Michael O'LOUGHLIN	Team Wiggins	s.t.
41	Juan Jose LOBATO	Movistar	s.t.
42	Edward RAVASI	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
43	Andrew FENN	Sky	s.t.
44	Yauhen SOBAL	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.
45	Winner ANACONA	Movistar	s.t.
46	Martijn TUSVELD	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
47	Filippo POZZATO	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
48	Daniel PEARSON	Team Wiggins	s.t.
49	Alberto CONTADOR	Tinkoff	s.t.
50	Julien BERNARD	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
51	Juraj SAGAN	Tinkoff	s.t.
52	Ahmed ALMANSORY	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
53	Jesper HANSEN	Tinkoff	s.t.
54	Sergey FIRSANOV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
55	Andrey AMADOR	Movistar	s.t.
56	Karol DOMAGALSKI	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
57	Evgeny SHALUNOV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
58	Manuel BELLETTI	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
59	Majid ALBALUSHI	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
60	Jesus HERNANDEZ	Tinkoff	s.t.
61	Badr MOHAMED ALHAMMADI	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
62	Oleksandr GOLOVASH	Minsk Cycling Club	s.t.
63	Mark RENSHAW	Dimension  Data	28
64	Eugert ZHUPA	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
65	Sacha MODOLO	Lampre-Merida	30
66	Kanstantsin KLIMIANKOU	Minsk Cycling Club	31
67	Jelle WALLAYS	Lotto-Soudal	34
68	James Knox	Team Wiggins	s.t.
69	Mitchell DOCKER	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
70	Samuel WILLIAMS	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
71	Marco COLEDAN	Trek-Segafredo	35
72	Carlos Alberto BETANCUR	Movistar	36
73	Matteo DRAPERI	Wilier Triestina	38
74	Andrew TENNANT	Team Wiggins	s.t.
75	Tom BOHLI	BMC	s.t.
76	Jonathan DIBBEN	Team Wiggins	48
77	Koen DE KORT	Giant-Alpecin	52
78	Valerio AGNOLI	Astana	59
79	Youcef REGUIGUI	Dimension  Data	+1:03
80	Alessandro VANOTTI	Astana	+1:04
81	Artem NYCH	Gazprom-Rusvelo	+1:09
82	Andrei SOLOMENNIKOV	Gazprom-Rusvelo	+1:16
83	Francisco José VENTOSO	Movistar	+1:26
84	Maciej PATERSKI	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+1:31
85	Danny VAN POPPEL	Sky	+1:37
86	Owain DOULL	Sky	+1:54
87	Zico WAEYTENS	Giant-Alpecin	+2:11
88	Kristian HOUSE	ONE Pro Cycling	+2:13
89	Tobias LUDVIGSSON	Giant-Alpecin	+2:36
90	Lukasz OWSIAN	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+2:42
91	Jan HIRT	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+2:43
92	Michal PALUTA	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+2:56
93	Bernhard EISEL	Dimension  Data	+3:06
94	Jelle VANENDERT	Lotto-Soudal	+3:19
95	Stanislau BAZHKOU	Minsk Cycling Club	+3:23
96	Mekseb DEBESAY	Dimension  Data	+3:34
97	Jay Robert THOMSON	Dimension  Data	+3:44
98	Jacopo MOSCA	Trek-Segafredo	+4:10
99	Niccolo BONIFAZIO	Trek-Segafredo	+4:14
100	Gatis SMUKULIS	Astana	+4:45
101	Nasser ALMEMARI	Al Nasr Dubai	+4:46
102	Frederik FRISON	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
103	Michal KWIATKOWSKI	Sky	+4:54
104	Thomas DE GENDT	Lotto-Soudal	+5:07
105	Sander ARMEE	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
106	Kiel REIJNEN	Trek-Segafredo	+7:52

Stage 2 map & Profile: pan-flat course

Stage 2 map

Stage 2 profile

Stage 2 photos:

Still racing after all these years. Davide Rebellin, who turned pro in 1992, heads for the start. Sirotti photo

Diego Ulissi. Sirotti photo

The peloton assembles to start the stage. Sirotti photo

Here they come.... Sirotti photo

Cavendish looks to be about dead even with the others. Sirotti photo

But he's just a little bit faster. Sirotti photo

And takes the stage. Sirotti photo

Cavendish has taken both the stage and the race lead. Sirotti photo

Alberto Contador finsihes the stage. The Tinkoff team riders are wearing retro kits this race. Sirotti photo.

Cavendish gets the race leader's red jersey. Sirotti photo

---

Thursday, Oct 20: Stage 1, Madinat Zayed - Madinat Zayed, 147 km

Stage 1 map and profile | Stage 1 photos

Giacomo Nizzolo wins stage 1

The Race: Here's the race story from winner Giacomo Nizzolo's Trek-Segafredo team.

The blustery winds made for a sketchy ending to stage one in the Abu Dhabi Tour Thursday, a perfect scenario for Giacomo Nizzolo, one of the best positioning unpredictable bunch finishes, and he easily held off John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) and Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) to take the win.

"This is the best way to start this race," smiled Nizzolo. "After the Worlds on Sunday I said let's go to Abu Dhabi and see if I can get one victory more, and we did it!

"There was the last real corner 1.2 kilometers to go and then a roundabout with 700 meters to go, and I asked the team to put me in a good position there. From the roundabout, I just managed by myself, and I started my sprint from 200-220 meters to go. I felt power, and I was confident to reach the line first, and that's how it went."

A four-man breakaway, leading from the early going, animated the final kilometers of the flat 147-kilometer race, holding over 2 minutes' advantage with 17 kilometers to go and sounding alarms in the pursuing peloton.

Not about to leave anything to chance, even with a stiff headwind facing the riders in the run-in, Trek-Segafredo added the fast legs of Niccolo Bonifazio to the chase, leaving Kiel Reijnen and Marco Coledan to help position Nizzolo in the finale.

"When I saw that the gap was so big and so close to the finish I decided to put another guy into helping with the chase," explained Nizzolo. "To have no doubts we decided to help pull, and in the end, it was the right choice. I am very happy, and of course a big thanks to all my team, and we will try and keep the jersey tomorrow."

Trek-Segafredo takes the red leader's jersey into stage two tomorrow, also projected to end in a bunch sprint.

Complete Results:

Stage 1 photos

147 kilometers raced at an average speed of 45.004 km/hr

1	Giacomo Nizzolo	Trek-Segafredo	3hr 15min 59sec
2	John Degenkolb	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
3	Mark Cavendish	Dimension Data	s.t.
4	Magnus Cort	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
5	Christopher Latham	Team Wiggins	s.t.
6	Michal Kolár	Tinkoff	s.t.
7	Roman Maykin	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
8	Marco Coledan	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
9	Jempy Drücker	BMC	s.t.
10	Ramon Sinkeldam	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
11	Erik Baška	Tinkoff	s.t.
12	Steele Von Hoff	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
13	Jon Dibben	Team Wiggins	s.t.
14	Andrea Guardini	Astana	s.t.
15	Yousif Mirza	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
16	Elia Viviani	Team Sky	s.t.
17	Jakub Mareczko	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
18	Siarhei Papok	Minsk Cycling	s.t.
19	Alexandr Kolobnev	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
20	Mark Renshaw	Dimension Data	s.t.
21	André Greipel	Lotto-Soudal	@ 3sec
22	Juan José Lobato	Movistar	s.t.
23	Hayden McCormick	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
24	Danny van Poppel	Team Sky	s.t.
25	Alan Banaszek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
26	Francisco Ventoso	Movistar	s.t.
27	Floris Gerts	BMC	s.t.
28	Greg Van Avermaet	BMC	s.t.
29	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana	s.t.
30	Diego Ulissi	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
31	Nicolas Roche	Team Sky	s.t.
32	Tanel Kangert	Astana	s.t.
33	Luka Pibernik	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
34	Dáyer Quintana	Movistar	s.t.
35	Jan Polanc	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
36	Dion Smith	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
37	Stanislau Bazhkou	Minsk Cycling	s.t.
38	Filippo Pozzato	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
39	Juraj Sagan	Tinkoff	s.t.
40	Jaber Almansory	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
41	Eugert Zhupa	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
42	Ben Hermans	BMC	s.t.
43	Anton Ivashkin	Minsk Cycling	s.t.
44	Michael Matthews	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
45	Alessandro Vanotti	Astana	s.t.
46	Jens Keukeleire	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
47	Michael Schär	BMC	s.t.
48	Koen de Kort	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
49	Maciej Paterski	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
50	Davide Rebellin	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
51	Julien Bernard	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
52	Chun Kai Feng	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
53	Carlos Verona	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
54	Winner Anacona	Movistar	s.t.
55	Alberto Contador	Tinkoff	s.t.
56	Edward Ravasi	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
57	Lukasz Owsian	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
58	Jesper Hansen	Tinkoff	s.t.
59	Evgeniy Shalunov	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
60	Martijn Tusveld	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
61	Majid Albalooshi	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
62	Andrey Amador	Movistar	s.t.
63	Michael O'Loughlin	Team Wiggins	s.t.
64	Yauheni Sobal	Minsk Cycling	s.t.
65	Sergey Firsanov	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
66	Karol Domagalski	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
67	Manuel Belletti	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
68	Daniel Pearson	Team Wiggins	s.t.
69	Jesús Hernández	Tinkoff	s.t.
70	Carlos Betancur	Movistar	s.t.
71	Ahmed Almansory	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
72	Oleksandr Golovash	Minsk Cycling	s.t.
73	Bader Mirza	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
74	Kanstantsin Klimiankou	Minsk Cycling	s.t.
75	Andrew Fenn	Team Sky	s.t.
76	Mekseb Debesay	Dimension Data	+14''
77	Youcef Reguigui	Dimension Data	s.t.
78	Sacha Modolo	Lampre-Merida	+16''
79	Mitch Docker	Orica-BikeExchange	+20''
80	Jelle Wallays	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
81	Jelle Vanendert	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
82	Jan Hirt	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
83	James Knox	Team Wiggins	s.t.
84	Samuel Williams	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
85	Jay Thomson	Dimension Data	+24''
86	Kristian House	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
87	Matteo Draperi	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
88	Zico Waeytens	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
89	Valerio Agnoli	Astana	s.t.
90	Artem Nych	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
91	Tom Bohli	BMC	s.t.
92	Andrew Tennant	Team Wiggins	s.t.
93	Andrei Solomennikov	Gazprom-Rusvelo	+31''
94	Jacopo Mosca	Trek-Segafredo	+50''
95	Niccolò Bonifazio	Trek-Segafredo	+1' 15''
96	Owain Doull	Team Sky	+1' 26''
97	Tobias Ludvigsson	Giant-Alpecin	+1' 34''
98	Michal Kwiatkowski	Team Sky	s.t.
99	Bernhard Eisel	Dimension Data	+1' 51''
100	Michal Paluta	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+2' 03''
101	Thomas De Gendt	Lotto-Soudal	+4' 32''
102	Frederik Frison	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
103	Kiel Reijnen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
104	Gatis Smukulis	Astana	s.t.
105	Naser Al Memari	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
106	Sander Armée	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.

GC after Stage 1:

1	Giacomo Nizzolo	Trek-Segafredo	3hr 15min 49sec
2	John Degenkolb	Giant-Alpecin	@ 4sec
3	Mark Cavendish	Dimension Data	+6''
4	Jens Keukeleire	Orica-BikeExchange	+7''
5	Dion Smith	ONE Pro Cycling	+9''
6	Magnus Cort	Orica-BikeExchange	+10''
7	Christopher Latham	Team Wiggins	s.t.
8	Michal Kolár	Tinkoff	s.t.
9	Roman Maykin	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
10	Marco Coledan	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
11	Jempy Drücker	BMC	s.t.
12	Ramon Sinkeldam	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
13	Erik Baška	Tinkoff	s.t.
14	Steele Von Hoff	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
15	Jon Dibben	Team Wiggins	s.t.
16	Andrea Guardini	Astana	s.t.
17	Yousif Mirza	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
18	Elia Viviani	Team Sky	s.t.
19	Jakub Mareczko	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
20	Siarhei Papok	Minsk Cycling	s.t.
21	Alexandr Kolobnev	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
22	Mark Renshaw	Dimension Data	s.t.
23	Michael Matthews	Orica-BikeExchange	+12''
24	André Greipel	Lotto-Soudal	+13''
25	Juan José Lobato	Movistar	s.t.
26	Hayden McCormick	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
27	Danny van Poppel	Team Sky	s.t.
28	Alan Banaszek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
29	Francisco Ventoso	Movistar	s.t.
30	Floris Gerts	BMC	s.t.
31	Greg Van Avermaet	BMC	s.t.
32	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana	s.t.
33	Diego Ulissi	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
34	Nicolas Roche	Team Sky	s.t.
35	Tanel Kangert	Astana	s.t.
36	Luka Pibernik	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
37	Dáyer Quintana	Movistar	s.t.
38	Jan Polanc	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
39	Stanislau Bazhkou	Minsk Cycling	s.t.
40	Filippo Pozzato	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
41	Juraj Sagan	Tinkoff	s.t.
42	Jaber Almansory	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
43	Eugert Zhupa	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
44	Ben Hermans	BMC	s.t.
45	Anton Ivashkin	Minsk Cycling	s.t.
46	Alessandro Vanotti	Astana	s.t.
47	Michael Schär	BMC	s.t.
48	Koen de Kort	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
49	Maciej Paterski	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
50	Davide Rebellin	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
51	Julien Bernard	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
52	Chun Kai Feng	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
53	Carlos Verona	Orica-BikeExchange	s.t.
54	Winner Anacona	Movistar	s.t.
55	Alberto Contador	Tinkoff	s.t.
56	Edward Ravasi	Lampre-Merida	s.t.
57	Lukasz Owsian	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
58	Jesper Hansen	Tinkoff	s.t.
59	Evgeniy Shalunov	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
60	Martijn Tusveld	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
61	Majid Albalooshi	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
62	Andrey Amador	Movistar	s.t.
63	Michael O'Loughlin	Team Wiggins	s.t.
64	Yauheni Sobal	Minsk Cycling	s.t.
65	Sergey Firsanov	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
66	Karol Domagalski	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
67	Manuel Belletti	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
68	Daniel Pearson	Team Wiggins	s.t.
69	Jesús Hernández	Tinkoff	s.t.
70	Carlos Betancur	Movistar	s.t.
71	Ahmed Almansory	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
72	Oleksandr Golovash	Minsk Cycling	s.t.
73	Bader Mirza	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
74	Kanstantsin Klimiankou	Minsk Cycling	s.t.
75	Andrew Fenn	Team Sky	s.t.
76	Mekseb Debesay	Dimension Data	+24''
77	Youcef Reguigui	Dimension Data	s.t.
78	Sacha Modolo	Lampre-Merida	+26''
79	Mitch Docker	Orica-BikeExchange	+30''
80	Jelle Wallays	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
81	Jelle Vanendert	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
82	Jan Hirt	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
83	James Knox	Team Wiggins	s.t.
84	Samuel Williams	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
85	Jay Thomson	Dimension Data	+34''
86	Kristian House	ONE Pro Cycling	s.t.
87	Matteo Draperi	Wilier Triestina	s.t.
88	Zico Waeytens	Giant-Alpecin	s.t.
89	Valerio Agnoli	Astana	s.t.
90	Artem Nych	Gazprom-Rusvelo	s.t.
91	Tom Bohli	BMC	s.t.
92	Andrew Tennant	Team Wiggins	s.t.
93	Andrei Solomennikov	Gazprom-Rusvelo	+41''
94	Jacopo Mosca	Trek-Segafredo	+1' 00''
95	Niccolò Bonifazio	Trek-Segafredo	+1' 25''
96	Owain Doull	Team Sky	+1' 36''
97	Tobias Ludvigsson	Giant-Alpecin	+1' 44''
98	Michal Kwiatkowski	Team Sky	s.t.
99	Bernhard Eisel	Dimension Data	+2' 01''
100	Michal Paluta	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	+2' 13''
101	Gatis Smukulis	Astana	+4' 41''
102	Thomas De Gendt	Lotto-Soudal	+4' 42''
103	Frederik Frison	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
104	Kiel Reijnen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
105	Naser Al Memari	Al Nasr Dubai	s.t.
106	Sander Armée	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.

Stage 1 map and profile:

Stage 1 map

Stage 1 profile

Stage 1 photos:

André Greipel at the start. Sirotti photo

Giacomo Nizzolo. Sirotti photo

Greg van Avermaet is ready to race. Sirotti photo

Racing in the desert. Sirotti photo

Here they come....Sirotti photo

Giacomo Nizzolo just about has it nailed. Sirotti photo

And he gets it. Sirotti photo

Time to celebrate

Nizzolo get the leader's red jersey. Sirotti photo

---

Start list, October 12, 2016:

• Al Nasr Dubai

Yousif Mirza, Ahmed Al Mansoori, Jaber Al Mansoori, Majid Al Balooshi, Badr Al Hammadi, Khalil Hadad (DS)

• Tinkoff

Alberto Contador, David Ballerini, Erik Baska, Jesper Hansen, Michal Kolar, Juraj Sagan, Lars Michaelsen (DS)

• Astana Pro Team

Vincenzo Nibali, Jakob Fuglsang, Andrea Guardini, Valerio Agnoli, Tanel Kangert, Gatis Smukulis, Alexandr Shefer (DS)

• Team Wiggins

Bradley Wiggins, Scott Davies, Jonathan Dibben, Christopher Latham, Michael Pearson, Andrew Tennant, Simon Cope (DS)

• Team Sky

Elia Viviani, Owain Doull, Andrew Fenn, Michal Kwiatkowski, Nicholas Roche, Danny Van Poppel, Brett Lancaster (DS)

• BMC Racing Team

Greg Van Avermaet, Michael Schar, Tom Bohli, Jean Pierre Drucker, Floris Gerts, Ben Hermans, Yvon Ledanois (DS)

• Team Dimension Data

Mark Cavendish, Bernhard Eisel, Youcef Reguigui, Mark Renshaw, Kristian Sbaragli, Jay Robert Thomson, Jean-Pierre Heynderickx (DS)

• Movistar Team

Andrey Amador, Winner Anacona, Carlos Betancur, Juan Jose Lobato, Dayer Quintana, Francisco Ventoso, Jose Garcia (DS)

• Lampre-Merida

Diego Ulissi, Sacha Modolo, Jan Polanc, Feng Chun-kai, Marko Kump, Edward Ravasi, Mario Scirea (DS)

• Orica BikeExchange

Michael Matthews, Luka Mezgec, Carlos Verona, Magnus Cort, Jens Keukeleire, Mitchell Docker, Laurenzo Lapage (DS)

• Lotto Soudal

Andre Greipel, Thomas De Gendt, Marcel Sieberg, Jelle Van Endert, Jelle Wallays, Frederik Frison, Mario Aerts (DS)

• Team Giant-Alpecin

John Degenkolb, Koen De Kort, Tobias Ludvigsson, Ramon Sinkeldam, Martijn Tusveld, Zico Waeytens, Mattias Reck (DS)

• Trek-Segafredo

Giacomo Nizzolo, Piet Allegaert, Julien Bernard, Marco Coledan, Jacopo Mosca, Kiel Reijnen, Adriano Baffi (DS)

• CCC Sprandi Polkowice

Davide Rebellin, Alan Banaszek, Jan Hirt, Lukasz Owsian, Michal Paluta, Maciej Paterski, Gabriele Missaglia (DS)

• Gazprom-Rusvelo

Sergey Firsanov, Alexander Foliforov, Alexandr Kolobnev, Roman Maikin, Artem Nych, Egveny Shalunov, Renat Khamidulin (DS)

• Minsk Cycling Club

Stanislau Bazhkou, Oleksandr Holovash, Anton Ivashkin, Kanstantsin Klimiankou, Siarhei Papok, Yauheni Sobal, Natallia Tsylinskaya (DS)

• One Pro Cycling

Karol Domagalski, Kristian House, Hayden McCormick, Dion Smith, Steele Von Hoff, Samuel Williams, Matthew Winston (DS)

• Wilier Triestina-Southeast

Jakub Mareczko, Julen Amezqueta, Manuel Belletti, Matteo Busato, Filippo Pozzato, Eugert Zhupa, Serge Parsani (DS)