Kittel sprints to opening Dubai Tour win — on disc brakes

A textbook leadout allowed Marcel Kittel to take a sprint victory in the opening stage of the Dubai Tour Tuesday.

The Quick-Step Floors rider emerged from his teammates’ slipstreams with 200 meters to go, at which point he slammed it into overdrive and hustled to victory. LottoNL – Jumbo’s Dylan Groenewegen claimed second and Dimension Data’s Mark Cavendish was third in the 181-kilometer stage in Dubai that ended on the artificial archipelago of Palm Jumeirah.

“I’m really happy. In the last few days I felt I was very confident about the team. I’m happy to have a winning start, just like last year,” said Kittel, who won the opening stage in Dubai last year and has six stage wins at the race dating back to 2014.

Top 10, stage 1

• 1. Marcel KITTEL, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, in 4:06:33
• 2. Dylan GROENEWEGEN, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :00
• 3. Mark CAVENDISH, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at :00
• 4. John DEGENKOLB, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :00
• 5. Sacha MODOLO, UAE ABU DHABI, at :00
• 6. Elia VIVIANI, TEAM SKY, at :00
• 7. Jean-Pierre DRUCKER, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 8. Simone CONSONNI, UAE ABU DHABI, at :00
• 9. Steele VON HOFF, ONE PRO CYCLING, at :00
• 10. Adam BLYTHE, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at :00

“It was difficult to time it right because there are a lot of strong sprinters here and you need to find the right moment. We were always in a good position, not really in the front, but we chose the right distance to go for it,” Kittel said. “After we passed the last roundabout, we tried to find each other and we went full gas to the finish line. It worked really well.”

Kittel opted to ride a bike equipped with disc brakes for Monday’s stage and it ended up being his first career win on that type of setup.

“A lot of riders came to me today and asked me about that, they were curious about the disc brakes and how it feels to ride with it,” Kittel said. “I think I made the right choice and I’m happy to have it this season.”

Kittel has a 3-second lead over Nicola Boem (Bardiani – CSF) and a 4-second advantage over Groenewegen in the GC standings.

Five riders — Boem (Bardiani-CSF), Matteo Bono (UAE Abu Dhabi), Silvan Dillier (BMC Racing), Daniel Pearson (Aqua Blue Sport), and Tom Stewart (ONE Pro Cycling) — attacked early in the stage and formed a breakaway. They rode at the front all day but were kept in check, taking a lead of no more than 4 minutes over the peloton.

With 10km remaining in the stage, the escapees were caught by the main field.

The Dubai Tour picks up with Wednesday’s stage 2, a 188km route from Dubai to Ras al Khaimah.

Stage 1 results

• 1. Marcel KITTEL, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, in 4:06:33
• 2. Dylan GROENEWEGEN, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :00
• 3. Mark CAVENDISH, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at :00
• 4. John DEGENKOLB, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :00
• 5. Sacha MODOLO, UAE ABU DHABI, at :00
• 6. Elia VIVIANI, TEAM SKY, at :00
• 7. Jean-Pierre DRUCKER, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 8. Simone CONSONNI, UAE ABU DHABI, at :00
• 9. Steele VON HOFF, ONE PRO CYCLING, at :00
• 10. Adam BLYTHE, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at :00
• 11. Reinardt JANSE VAN RENSBURG, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at :00
• 12. Juan Jose LOBATO DEL VALLE, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :00
• 13. Riccardo MINALI, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
• 14. Koen DE KORT, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :00
• 15. Paolo SIMION, BARDIANI CSF, at :00
• 16. Loïc VLIEGEN, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 17. Andrew FENN, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at :00
• 18. Jakub MARECZKO, WILIER TRIESTINA, at :00
• 19. Alex DOWSETT, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :00
• 20. Daniele BENNATI, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :00
• 21. Floris GERFS, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 22. Ruslan TLEUBAYEV, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
• 23. Yousef MIRZA BANIHAMMAD, UAE ABU DHABI, at :00
• 24. Dmitriy GRUZDEV, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
• 25. Thomas STEWART, ONE PRO CYCLING, at :00
• 26. Charles PLANET, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at :00
• 27. Quentin VALOGNES, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at :00
• 28. Fumiyuki BEPPU, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :00
• 29. ANDREY GRIVKO, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
• 30. Tao GEOGHEGAN HART, TEAM SKY, at :00
• 31. Jan POLANC, UAE ABU DHABI, at :00
• 32. Laurens DE VREESE, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
• 33. Carlos BARBERO CUESTA, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :00
• 34. Arman KAMYSHEV, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
• 35. Marco MARONESE, BARDIANI CSF, at :00
• 36. Gregory RAST, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :00
• 37. Jonathan DIEBBEN, TEAM SKY, at :00
• 38. Kiel REIJNEN, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :00
• 39. Matej MOHORIC, UAE ABU DHABI, at :00
• 40. Nelson OLIVEIRA, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :00
• 41. Silvan DILLIER, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 42. Karol DOMAGALSKI, ONE PRO CYCLING, at :00
• 43. Hayden MCCORMICK, ONE PRO CYCLING, at :00
• 44. Fabio SABATINI, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at :00
• 45. Matteo TRENTIN, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at :00
• 46. Truls KORSÆTH, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
• 47. Michal GOLAS, TEAM SKY, at :00
• 48. Bram TANKINK, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :00
• 49. Peter WILLIAMS, ONE PRO CYCLING, at :00
• 50. Bob JUNGELS, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at :00
• 51. Christian KNEES, TEAM SKY, at :00
• 52. Amund Grondahl JANSEN, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :00
• 53. Joshua HUNT, ONE PRO CYCLING, at :00
• 54. Timo ROOSEN, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :00
• 55. Thomas LEEZER, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :00
• 56. Markel IRIZAR ARANBURU, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :00
• 57. David LOZANO RIBA, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at :00
• 58. Davide MARTINELLI, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at :00
• 59. Joonas HENTTALA, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at :00
• 60. Joseph ROSSKOPF, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 61. Samuel SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 62. Imanol ERVITI, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :00
• 63. Enrico GASPAROTTO, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :00
• 64. Dylan TEUNS, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 65. Julian ALAPHILIPPE, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at :00
• 66. Daniel PEARSON, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at :00
• 67. Jacopo MOSCA, WILIER TRIESTINA, at :00
• 68. Stephen CLANCY, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at :00
• 69. Cristian RODRIGUEZ MARTIN, WILIER TRIESTINA, at :00
• 70. Enrico BARBIN, BARDIANI CSF, at :00
• 71. Gianni MOSCON, TEAM SKY, at :00
• 72. Matthew BRAMMEIER, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at :00
• 73. Maarten WYNANTS, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :00
• 74. Stefan DENIFL, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at :00
• 75. Zhandos BIZHIGITOV, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
• 76. Mark CHRISTIAN, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at :00
• 77. Gijs VAN HOECKE, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :00
• 78. WINNER ANDREW ANACONA GOMEZ, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :00
• 79. Simone ANDREETTA, BARDIANI CSF, at :00
• 80. Nicola BOEM, BARDIANI CSF, at :00
• 81. Simone VELASCO, BARDIANI CSF, at :00
• 82. Rafael ANDRIATO, WILIER TRIESTINA, at :00
• 83. Rory SUTHERLAND, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :00
• 84. Matteo BUSATO, WILIER TRIESTINA, at :00
• 85. Giuseppe FONZI, WILIER TRIESTINA, at :00
• 86. Umberto POLI, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at :00
• 87. Grega BOLE, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :00
• 88. Kristijan ÐURASEK, UAE ABU DHABI, at :00
• 89. Ryan GIBBONS, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at :15
• 90. Mark RENSHAW, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at :17
• 91. Roberto FERRARI, UAE ABU DHABI, at :25
• 92. David PER, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :40
• 93. Daniel OSS, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 94. Scott THWAITES, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at :56
• 95. Maximilian SCHACHMANN, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at 1:00
• 96. Alessandro TONELLI, BARDIANI CSF, at 1:06
• 97. Jaber ALMANSOORI, UAE, at 1:09
• 98. Christopher WILLIAMS, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at 1:37
• 99. Gerd DE KEIJZER, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at 1:37
• 100. Majid ALBALUSHI, UAE, at 1:37
• 101. Luka PIBERNIK, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at 1:58
• 102. Michael GOGL, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at 2:24
• 103. Julien BERNARD, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at 2:24
• 104. Samuel WILLIAMS, ONE PRO CYCLING, at 2:44
• 105. Héctor CARRETERO, MOVISTAR TEAM, at 2:44
• 106. Julien VERMOTE, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at 2:53
• 107. Kristian HOUSE, ONE PRO CYCLING, at 3:11
• 108. Ivan GARCIA CORTINA, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at 3:16
• 109. Sonny COLBRELLI, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at 3:16
• 110. Chun Kai FENG, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at 3:16
• 111. Matteo BONO, UAE ABU DHABI, at 3:16
• 112. Borut BOZIC, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at 3:16
• 113. Yousef ALMANSOORI, UAE, at 3:16
• 114. Bernhard EISEL, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 3:16
• 115. Alberto CECCHIN, WILIER TRIESTINA, at 3:16
• 116. Liam BERTAZZO, WILIER TRIESTINA, at 4:27
• 117. Ian BOSWELL, TEAM SKY, at 4:27
• 118. Jay Robert THOMSON, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 4:53
• 119. Nick DOUGALL, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 4:53
• 120. Simone STERBINI, BARDIANI CSF, at 5:43
• 121. Nasser ALMEMARI, UAE, at 7:39
• 122. Mohammed almurawwi alblooshi, UAE, at 7:39
• 123. Badr Mohamed Ahmed MOHAMED ALHAMMADI, UAE, at 7:39
• 124. Ahmed ALMANSORY, UAE, at 7:39
• 125. Saif Mayoof AL KAABI, UAE, at 7:39
• DNF Lars Petter NORDHAUG, AQUA BLUE SPORT

General classification

• 1. Marcel KITTEL, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, in 4:06:23
• 2. Nicola BOEM, BARDIANI CSF, at :03
• 3. Dylan GROENEWEGEN, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :04
• 4. Thomas STEWART, ONE PRO CYCLING, at :04
• 5. Mark CAVENDISH, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at :06
• 6. Silvan DILLIER, BMC RACING TEAM, at :06
• 7. John DEGENKOLB, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :10
• 8. Sacha MODOLO, UAE ABU DHABI, at :10
• 9. Elia VIVIANI, TEAM SKY, at :10
• 10. Jean-Pierre DRUCKER, BMC RACING TEAM, at :10
• 11. Simone CONSONNI, UAE ABU DHABI, at :10
• 12. Steele VON HOFF, ONE PRO CYCLING, at :10
• 13. Adam BLYTHE, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at :10
• 14. Reinardt JANSE VAN RENSBURG, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at :10
• 15. Juan Jose LOBATO DEL VALLE, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :10
• 16. Riccardo MINALI, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :10
• 17. Koen DE KORT, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :10
• 18. Paolo SIMION, BARDIANI CSF, at :10
• 19. Loïc VLIEGEN, BMC RACING TEAM, at :10
• 20. Andrew FENN, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at :10
• 21. Jakub MARECZKO, WILIER TRIESTINA, at :10
• 22. Alex DOWSETT, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :10
• 23. Daniele BENNATI, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :10
• 24. Floris GERFS, BMC RACING TEAM, at :10
• 25. Ruslan TLEUBAYEV, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :10
• 26. Yousef MIRZA BANIHAMMAD, UAE ABU DHABI, at :10
• 27. Dmitriy GRUZDEV, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :10
• 28. Charles PLANET, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at :10
• 29. Quentin VALOGNES, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at :10
• 30. Fumiyuki BEPPU, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :10
• 31. ANDREY GRIVKO, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :10
• 32. Tao GEOGHEGAN HART, TEAM SKY, at :10
• 33. Jan POLANC, UAE ABU DHABI, at :10
• 34. Laurens DE VREESE, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :10
• 35. Carlos BARBERO CUESTA, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :10
• 36. Arman KAMYSHEV, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :10
• 37. Marco MARONESE, BARDIANI CSF, at :10
• 38. Gregory RAST, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :10
• 39. Jonathan DIEBBEN, TEAM SKY, at :10
• 40. Kiel REIJNEN, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :10
• 41. Matej MOHORIC, UAE ABU DHABI, at :10
• 42. Nelson OLIVEIRA, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :10
• 43. Karol DOMAGALSKI, ONE PRO CYCLING, at :10
• 44. Hayden MCCORMICK, ONE PRO CYCLING, at :10
• 45. Fabio SABATINI, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at :10
• 46. Matteo TRENTIN, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at :10
• 47. Truls KORSÆTH, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :10
• 48. Michal GOLAS, TEAM SKY, at :10
• 49. Bram TANKINK, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :10
• 50. Peter WILLIAMS, ONE PRO CYCLING, at :10
• 51. Bob JUNGELS, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at :10
• 52. Christian KNEES, TEAM SKY, at :10
• 53. Amund Grondahl JANSEN, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :10
• 54. Joshua HUNT, ONE PRO CYCLING, at :10
• 55. Timo ROOSEN, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :10
• 56. Thomas LEEZER, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :10
• 57. Markel IRIZAR ARANBURU, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at :10
• 58. David LOZANO RIBA, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at :10
• 59. Davide MARTINELLI, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at :10
• 60. Joonas HENTTALA, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at :10
• 61. Joseph ROSSKOPF, BMC RACING TEAM, at :10
• 62. Samuel SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, BMC RACING TEAM, at :10
• 63. Imanol ERVITI, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :10
• 64. Enrico GASPAROTTO, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :10
• 65. Dylan TEUNS, BMC RACING TEAM, at :10
• 66. Julian ALAPHILIPPE, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at :10
• 67. Daniel PEARSON, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at :10
• 68. Jacopo MOSCA, WILIER TRIESTINA, at :10
• 69. Stephen CLANCY, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at :10
• 70. Cristian RODRIGUEZ MARTIN, WILIER TRIESTINA, at :10
• 71. Enrico BARBIN, BARDIANI CSF, at :10
• 72. Gianni MOSCON, TEAM SKY, at :10
• 73. Matthew BRAMMEIER, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at :10
• 74. Maarten WYNANTS, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :10
• 75. Stefan DENIFL, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at :10
• 76. Zhandos BIZHIGITOV, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :10
• 77. Mark CHRISTIAN, AQUA BLUE SPORT, at :10
• 78. Gijs VAN HOECKE, TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO, at :10
• 79. WINNER ANDREW ANACONA GOMEZ, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :10
• 80. Simone ANDREETTA, BARDIANI CSF, at :10
• 81. Simone VELASCO, BARDIANI CSF, at :10
• 82. Rafael ANDRIATO, WILIER TRIESTINA, at :10
• 83. Rory SUTHERLAND, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :10
• 84. Matteo BUSATO, WILIER TRIESTINA, at :10
• 85. Giuseppe FONZI, WILIER TRIESTINA, at :10
• 86. Umberto POLI, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at :10
• 87. Grega BOLE, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :10
• 88. Kristijan ÐURASEK, UAE ABU DHABI, at :10
• 89. Daniel OSS, BMC RACING TEAM, at :10
• 90. Ryan GIBBONS, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at :25
• 91. Mark RENSHAW, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at :27
• 92. Roberto FERRARI, UAE ABU DHABI, at :35
• 93. David PER, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at :50
• 94. Scott THWAITES, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 1:06
• 95. Maximilian SCHACHMANN, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at 1:10
• 96. Alessandro TONELLI, BARDIANI CSF, at 1:16
• 97. Jaber ALMANSOORI, UAE, at 1:19
• 98. Christopher WILLIAMS, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at 1:47
• 99. Gerd DE KEIJZER, TEAM NOVO NORDISK, at 1:47
• 100. Majid ALBALUSHI, UAE, at 1:47
• 101. Luka PIBERNIK, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at 2:08
• 102. Michael GOGL, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at 2:34
• 103. Julien BERNARD, TREK – SEGAFREDO, at 2:34
• 104. Samuel WILLIAMS, ONE PRO CYCLING, at 2:54
• 105. Héctor CARRETERO, MOVISTAR TEAM, at 2:54
• 106. Julien VERMOTE, QUICK – STEP FLOORS, at 3:03
• 107. Kristian HOUSE, ONE PRO CYCLING, at 3:21
• 108. Matteo BONO, UAE ABU DHABI, at 3:25
• 109. Ivan GARCIA CORTINA, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at 3:26
• 110. Sonny COLBRELLI, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at 3:26
• 111. Chun Kai FENG, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at 3:26
• 112. Borut BOZIC, BAHRAIN – MERIDA, at 3:26
• 113. Yousef ALMANSOORI, UAE, at 3:26
• 114. Bernhard EISEL, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 3:26
• 115. Alberto CECCHIN, WILIER TRIESTINA, at 3:26
• 116. Liam BERTAZZO, WILIER TRIESTINA, at 4:37
• 117. Ian BOSWELL, TEAM SKY, at 4:37
• 118. Jay Robert THOMSON, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 5:03
• 119. Nick DOUGALL, TEAM DIMENSION DATA, at 5:03
• 120. Simone STERBINI, BARDIANI CSF, at 5:53
• 121. Nasser ALMEMARI, UAE, at 7:49
• 122. Mohammed almurawwi alblooshi, UAE, at 7:49
• 123. Badr Mohamed Ahmed MOHAMED ALHAMMADI, UAE, at 7:49
• 124. Ahmed ALMANSORY, UAE, at 7:49
• 125. Saif Mayoof AL KAABI, UAE, at 7:49

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