Italian beats 'King of the Desert' Tom Boonen by a bike-length

Madinat Zayed - The 26-year-old Italian timed his move perfectly in the final bunch sprint to win by a bike-length over 'King of the Desert' Tom Boonen of Etixx-Quick Step.

Astana Pro Team's Andrea Guardini won the first stage of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Tour but the story on a hot and humid Thursday was undoubtedly Skydive Dubai.
The 26-year-old Italian timed his move perfectly in the final bunch sprint to win by a bike-length over 'King of the Desert' Tom Boonen of Etixx-Quick Step.
Fellow Italian Daniele Bennati of Tinkoff-Saxo was third, while another Italian Andrea Palini made sure his Skydive Dubai Pro Cycling Team's teammates Francisco Mancebo Perez and Rafaa Chtioui's work didn't go to waste, by finishing fourth.
Skydive Dubai and the UAE National team were invitees for the event and both showed their knowledge of home conditions and impressed on the day.
The former broke away and led for most part of The ADNOC Stage from Qasr Al Sarab to Madinat Zayed Liwa, before the big guns swooped in, in the final 500 metres.
Slovakian Peter Sagan, in his first outing as the world champion, made a push for the win along with teammate Bennati in the final bunch sprint. But Guardini made a clever move from the left with just 250 metres to go, to take the finish line, drenched in sweat.
Guardini finished with a time four hours, 21 minutes and 11 seconds, just three seconds over Belgian Boonen. "Other riders suffer in the heat, but I like these conditions and I knew that I could do a really good job today," Guardini said at the finish line.
"The first hour was really slow because of the strong headwind. Coming into the final kilometre, there was confusion in the peloton. The last curve was at 500m, and I went around it in third position. I knew that I was too near the front, so I held back.
"Luckily I was close to Bennati. When Peter (Sagan) kicked, he pulled Bennati with him at around the 250m mark. Peter sportingly left the corridor along the barriers open, and I came through," added Guardini, who has 18 stage wins in the Tour de Langkawi and one stage win in the Giro d'Italia. Guardini, who joined Astana in 2013, won the Red Jersey (General Classification by time) and also the Green Jersey (General Classification by points).
MTN-Qhubeka's Jim Songezo, who was in the breakaway pack of five early on, won the White Jersey, handed out to the Best Young Rider. Bora-Argon 18's Paul Voss, who too was in the breakaway pack, won the Black Jersey (Intermediate Sprint Jersey Classification). The Stage was reduced from 174km to 159.5km due to the weather conditions, which had a knock on effect on the average speed, estimated finish time and limited visibility.
Hundrd and five riders took the starting line and 103 finished the stage. Youcef Reguigui, Jacopo Guarnieri and Tanner Putt were non-starters, while Travis Meyer and Ahmed Yousef Ahmed Abdulla dropped out.
The first breakaway of the race took place at the four-km mark, when six riders escaped the Peleton. Voss, Will Clarke (Drapac Professional Cycling), Songezo, Mancebo, Michael Thompson (Team Wiggins) and Alessandro Bazzana (UnitedHealthcare).
But the breakaway pack fell one by one as Skydive Dubai's Mancebo surged on alone. But as the veteran Mancebo began to tire and the Peleton closed in, teammate Rafaa Chtioui sprinted away and joined Mancebo. Chtioui asked the 39-year-old if he could go on, but the Spaniard shook his head and replied in the negative.
And then with 40km left to the finish, Chtioui hung on gamely. But then, the gap between him and the Peleton was reduced to 20 seconds.
With seven km left, he managed to pull it up to 46 seconds. It was pretty much up and down after that as fluids and the will to carry on, kept him going.
But the Tunisian National Champion didn't quite have the legs with just a kilometre to go as the Peleton caught up and took over.
The UAE National Team stayed with the Peleton with Jaber Hussain Ahmed finishing 29th. The second Stage - The Capital Stage- from Yas Marina Circuit to Yas Mall, consisting of 129km, is on Friday.
james@khaleejtimes.com 

abu dhabi tour