Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) confirmed his status as the top sprinter of the moment as he doubled up on wins at the UAE Tour with another chaotic sprint going to the Belgian on stage 4.
Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) got the jump on Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Dylan Groenwegen (Jayco AlUla) after they were best positioned around the crucial final corner and opened up the sprint early.
But Merlier, after being dropped onto Groves’ wheel by Bert Van Lerberghe, had bided his time and easily rounded the Dutchman in the final 150 metres to take his fourth UAE Tour victory in two years.
Kooij was third behind Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor) after he closed quickly for another second-place finish behind Merlier, but didn’t have the speed to catch the clearly superior Belgian once he opened his sprint fully.
Merlier is four from five in bunch sprints this season after his earlier success in the AlUla Tour and may have made it look easy with a second sprint win, but confirmed it was far from a simple job in the chaotic Dubai Harbour finale.
“Not really, maybe it looks like it but sprinting is never easy,” said Merlier after the finish.
“We found each other really good today with the team, they brought me with a good position and in the last 500 metres I was waiting to start my sprint. I didn't want to go again a bit early.
“Then I saw Olav [Kooij] go on the left-hand side and I tried to go on his wheel. I passed him and it was enough to win.”
Merlier will have two more chances to take victories on the flat stages 5 and 6. Just one more would see him become the leading stage winner at the UAE Tour and pass Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) who is also on four.
“I will try to win again but like I said on the first day - it won’t be easy,” Merlier said. “The train is on rails with the team and I’m looking forward to the next few days to work together.”
Despite the late crash, none of the GC favourites appear to have been caught out, meaning Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) will hold onto the leader’s red jersey going into the next two sprint stages. Vine will be trying to stay safe until Sunday’s summit finish atop Jebel Hafeet.
How it Unfolded
Another day of racing in the UAE meant another day for Mark Stewart (Corratec-Vini Fantini) to get into the day’s two-man breakaway. He had a new companion today in Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Dstny), with the Brit taking in more sprint points and the Belgian riding out front as the last man standing.
Vanhoucke was reabsorbed just inside 50km to go after the riders in the peloton made the turn from the Al Qudra cycle track and back into Dubai with the skyscrapers coming close into view as they approached the finish at the harbour.
The day was largely quiet in contrast to stage 3’s crosswind battle, without much chance to split the race apart and all eyes on the second sprint finish of the week.
DSM-Firmenich PostNL were holding firm towards the back of the peloton while Bahrain Victorious and Astana Qazaqstan led the way with their trains. The 10km to go point seemed to mark the start-line proper for the furious battle for position to begin.
With an important few turns incoming, the speeds flew up to 60km/h with the wide roads offering room to move up. The straight run up until the final 90-degree right-hander saw the lead swap multiple times with every train eager to lead into that turn.
High stress, lots of shouting and pure chaos were what characterised the peloton in the final and it finally burst with a crash 2.6km from the finish. Bora-Hansgrohe were seen barking orders just before they were worst affected with leadout man de luxe Danny van Poppel taken down in the concertina effect.
The best sprint team in the world from last year, Alpecin-Deceuninck speared up late with 1.5km to go and the crucial corner looming large, which put Groves into prime position behind last man Jonas Rickaert.
Kooij’s early jump put those following the Alpecin train on the back foot with the rush coming from the left. Merlier narrowly avoided Rickaert dropping back through the peloton and got onto Kooij’s wheel in time ahead of De Kleijn.
And as it was on stage 1, the Belgian’s full kick was much too strong for anyone to follow. Stanisław Aniołkowski (Cofidis) and Jakub Mareczko (Team Corratec - Vini Fantin) rounded out the top five with the big names of Jakobsen, Groenwegen, Mark Cavendish, Gaviria and Bennett way down on Merlier at the line.
Results
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