Ewan clinches stage four of UAE Tour

Caleb Ewan celebrates as he nears the finish line during stage 4 of the UAE Tour.

The Australian rider Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) has won Stage 4, the Dubai Municipality Stage, of the inaugural edition of the UAE Tour, ahead of Matteo Moschetti (Trek - Segafredo) and Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo - Visma), who remains the GC leader and wore the Red Jersey on the podium.
Speaking seconds after the stage finish, the stage winner Ewan said: "I knew coming into this stage with all the fast sprinters in this race, today would be my best chance for my first win of the year because of the uphill finish.
"My team did well protecting me today. It was a pretty tough stage even before the climb. I was where I had to be in the last right hand turn. I started my sprint when I needed to. Luckily I managed to hold on. It's a relief. It's always hard to get the first win of the year. Hopefully there'll be more for the rest of the season."
The Red Jersey Primoz Roglic said: "It's always better to gain some time in a stage like this than lose some time. Once again, I made it thanks to my team who protected me really well before the uphill finish. That's how I avoided the crash because I was always at the front. I just heard the noise behind me. It was my first time here. You can watch videos but it's only once you hit this wall that you realise how hard it is."
After 197-km of riding from the flats of Dubai city to the hills of Hatta, UAE Team Emirates' Diego Ulissi fought his way up a 17 per cent gradient at Hatta Dam to earn a respectable 7th place in the fourth stage of the UAE Tour. However the team had planned for more and had its hoped dashed after misfortune struck twice.
With 6-kms to go a crash split-up the bunch and Fernando Gaviria was caught behind the trouble putting him out of contention for the win. The again, with 100m left of the course, a mechanical issue half way up the climb to the top of the dam forced the team's second sprinter Alexander Kristoff to step off his bike and concede the race to its eventual winner, Ewan.  
The team's GC leader Dan Martin finished safely and remains 6th in the overall classification.  
Diego Ulissi said: "We had planned to work for Gaviria but the crash changed our strategy and I was given permission to go for the sprint. The final steep section was too short for my characteristics. I was good but I'm not explosive enough for that climb. I entered the last corner in 10th and managed to pass some riders but it wasn't enough for the win."
On Thursday, UAE Team Emirates looks forward to another flat stage as it leaves the Emirate of Sharjah and rides 181km across the country to its East coast and a faces flat finish into Khor Fakkan, which could see another bunch sprint finish and an opportunity for Fernando Gaviria to double his winning tally in the UAE.