cycling: Marcel Kittel wins the opening stage of the Dubai Tour

Cycling: Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) won the Dubai Tour 2017 opener. The 28-year-old sprinted confidently away from the competition and relegated Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) to second place. John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) just missed the podium.

Promising start to the season for Marcel Kittel: The German top sprinter refined an exemplary sprint train of his team with an irresistible start and the ultimately unchallenged and sovereign day victory at the start of the Dubai Tour 2017. Kittel already left his mark on the desert tour last year and even rode it at the end overall win.

The course of the stage on the completely flat track offered no surprises: Shortly after the start, five drivers pulled away from the front and steadily increased the gap to the field in the following time. About halfway through the distance to be covered, the teams in the peloton picked up the pace, especially the guys from Quick-Step Floors worked a lot and of course rode for their Sprinter Kittel.

10km before the line, the last escapee was caught and the battle for position began. Here, the African team from Dimension Data set the tone for a long time, which of course wanted to get their captain Mark Cavendish in position for the final. After the last bend, the sprint moves of Dimension Data and Quick-Step were almost the same - but when it came to the decisive last few meters, the Belgian team showed its full strength and brought Kittel into the perfect position, who didn't miss this chance anymore .

John Degenkolb was able to push past numerous other drivers from an actually hopeless position with a strong acceleration and only just missed the podium in fourth place.

Final Result Dubai Tour Stage #1