Cycling: The last stage of the Dubai Tour has just come to an end. Brit Mark Cavendish won the mass sprint at the foot of the Burj Khalifa in a superior manner ahead of Elia Viviani (Sky) and Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar). Giant-Alpecin did not have a good day and John Degenkolb only came in 9th. Cavendish snatched the overall victory from Degenkolb.
As on previous stages of the Dubai Tour, spectators saw little racing action during the stage. The peloton made its way over the flat streets of the metropolis, only to look for the decision in the final kilometers in a bunch sprint. As was the case throughout the race, it was Etixx Quick-Step and Sky who led the peloton and forced the breakaway groups to retire. Today it was Daniel Oss (BMC), Maciej Paterski (CCC), Francisco Mancebo Pérez (Skydive Dubai) and Marco Canola (UnitedHealthcare) who pulled away from the field after a few kilometers. However, the group broke up about 30km from the finish and the teams were waiting for their chance in the grand final.
When it came to the last three kilometers, it was the lead-out of Etixx Quick-Step who took the initiative. Tony Martin and Mark Renshaw were the pacemakers who put their captain, Mark Cavendish, in an excellent position for the final sprint. Sky, Movistar and Astana made one or two attempts to stand up to Etixx, but when it came to the last few meters, Cavendish was able to pick up the pace again and finally clinched the sprint, the stage and the overall victory surprisingly easily. For Giant-Alpecin, the kilometers in the final certainly didn't go as planned. Degenkolb had problems, kept falling back and the team didn't get into a good position either. So the Thuringian was only able to watch Cavendish's victory, which relegated Degenkolb to second place in the overall standings.
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