Dubai - Viviani now takes over the Tour leadership (Blue Jersey) from the first stage winner Marcel Kittel of Germany who rides for the Belgian outfit Etixx-Quick-Step.
Published: Thu 4 Feb 2016, 2:26 PM
Last updated: Fri 5 Feb 2016, 10:40 AM
Italy grabbed the top four places as sprint ace Elia Viviani of British entry - Team Sky - took over the Blue Jersey on day two of the Dubai Tour road cycling race with a stirring finish in the Nakheel Stage (stage 2) on Thursday.
The 4 hours 7 minutes 39 seconds first place finish at The Atlantis at Palm Jumeirah saw a great finale to a tactically well executed race by Team Sky and Viviani, pushing Italy’s Lampre-Merida rider Sacha Modolo into second place as Giacomo Nizzolo (Italy) of US entry Trek-Segafredo squeezed past fourth place finisher Andrea Guardini, Italy’s Astana Pro Team (Kazakhstan) ace.
Results (Stage 2)
1. Elia Viviani (Ita), Team Sky
2. Sacha Modolo (Ita), Lampre-Merida
3. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita), Trek-Segafredo
4. Andrea Guardini (Ita), Astana Pro team
5. Tomas Vaitkus (Lithuania - LTU), Al Nasr Pro Cylcing Team
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Viviani now takes over the Tour leadership (Blue Jersey) from the first stage winner Marcel Kittel of Germany who rides for the Belgian outfit Etixx-Quick-Step. After Thursday’s race, Kittel lies second in the overall standings.
“The roads and stages here are quite wide and this helps in the initial pace setting instead of having to worry tactically whether to take the left outside or go for the middle,” said 26-year old Viviani who won his first Grand Tour stage(2) victory at the Giro d’Italia last season.
“What was satisfying in today’s (Thursday) stage was the wind factor when we were bunched up on the desert and Palm Jumeirah phases. There was no need to bring new reserves of energy thanks to the conditions. At the beginning everything starts at zero. I was really focused on good training and working with the guys for 2016.”
The 183km route saw intermediary sprints at the 77.2km point (Al Qudra cycle track), the 105.5km point at the Hamdan Sports Complex and the Jumeirah Golf Estates mark when the ride was 137.9km old.
The blue jersey peloton (main riders aspiring for overall stage honours) rolled on at a very brisk pace, understandably so with the vast expanse of big flat terrain during the desert phases.
The pace was high especially in the midway stage as the bunch upfront and the second pack did not relent an inch. As usual and typical of a flat race like the Tour, there were numerous attacks and counter attacks but most failed to succeed like on day one in the first stage on Wednesday.
Overall standings (Blue Jersey) after Stage 2 of 4-stage Dubai Tour
1. Elia Viviani (Ita), Team Sky
2. Marcel Kittel (Ger), Etixx-Quick Step
3. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita),Trek- Segafredo
4. Sacha Modolo (Ita), Lampre-Merida
5. Mark Cavendish (Bri), Dimension Data
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With 58km to go and the race 2:48:20 old – Silvan Dillier (Switzerland) of the US’ BMC Racing Team, led the main pace setters. Then at the 54km stage with the second peloton 56 seconds adrift, the Netherlands’ Koen de Kort (Team Giant – Alpecin from Germany) and Spaniard Francisco Mancebo Perez of SkyDive Dubai Pro Cycling Team – Al Ahli Club swapped places for the lead pack’s second and third positions behind Dillier.
The story was the same at the 21km point from the finishing line, with the top four being up there by all by themselves. They looked in command taking up the front lines, 38 seconds ahead of the second pack.
The following bunch cut the gap to nine seconds at the 15km from the finish stage, while negotiating the roundabouts, curves, tunnel slopes and the speed breakers during the cruise through the residential complexes on the islands.
By the time the event was into the final 6km stage on the second day, the second pack had caught up with the leaders, giving the same kind of a finish on the cards like on day one where nearly 50-60 riders, crammed for space upfront, tried to bullet through.
With a 3.5km distance still to go from the last flag point and into the arch or gateway to the Atlantis at Palm Jumeirah, SkyDive Dubai surprisingly took the upper hand for the leadership at the top of the front V formation. There over 100 riders at this juncture, all attacking and counter attacking for space to lead the pack.
Earlier, 15km away from home and with the pace setting getting frantic by the second, Perez surged in front to be ahead by eight seconds. During this period, Movistar Team (Spain) rider Giovanni Visconti of Italy hit a cement curb at a crammed bend and luckily for him the sand between the two side pavements avoided severe bruises and serious harm to the bones. The brave rider after flipping over on to the pavement sand, continued with the race as the medical car kept asking him, in fact touching him, to make sure he was feeling well to ride to the finish point.
Ironman Marcin Bialoblocki of Poland who clinched the two intermediary sprint stages earlier, came up into second place overall with a wonderful burst of raw energy at the 34km stage from the finish flag. Pace maker Dillier was ahead now as Perez and Kort struggled to keep third and fourth spots.
The 78km point saw the intermediate sprint of the Al Qudra cycle track being grabbed by Bialoblocki of Britain’s One Pro Cycling squad. And, at the 138km pointintermediate sprint of Jumeirah Golf Estate, Bialoblocki was again in the forefront, with another brilliant burst.
moni@khaleejtimes.com
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