Cycling: After yesterday's accident in the peloton, Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) has decided not to use his disc brakes. But even with rim brakes, the German pro was unstoppable today on the 2nd stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour. In the final sprint he prevailed against the already jubilant Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott), who also fell yesterday. Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) defended his lead in the overall standings with third place.
No chance sextet on the run
On yesterday's opening stage the drivers and the spectators on the television got to see almost exclusively desert sand. Today, however, the 2nd stage actually took the peloton past a few sights. The drivers drove through the city of Abu Dhabi and even a few spectators could be seen at the side of the track. Kirill Sveshnikov (Gazprom Rusvelo), Marco Canoli (Nippo Vini Fantini), Fabio Calabria (Novo Nordisk), Kristijan Durasek (UAE Team Emirates), Nicola Boem (Bardiani) and Alessandro De Marchi (BMC) got out early and tried their salvation in flight. But on the only 153-kilometer stage, they shouldn't have much of a chance. They were only granted a lead of around two minutes. The two teams Lotto Soudal and Dimension Data around the sprinters André Greipel and Mark Cavendish controlled the field and left no doubt about a mass sprint.
Marcel Kittel unstoppable today
In this aforementioned mass sprint, Marcel Kittel also wanted to have a decisive say. The German fell on yesterday's stage. In the process, colleague Owain Doull (Sky), who also fell, made a cut in the shoe. Since this is said to have come about because of Kittel's disc brakes, he decided not to do it today out of respect for his colleagues. After a driving time of almost two and a half hours, this didn't seem to bother him too much, because Marcel Kittel was not only able to participate in the final sprint, but also win the stage. Caleb Ewan started to celebrate after passing Mark Cavendish, but Marcel Kittel got past him. With a very good fifth place for Phil Bauhaus (Sunweb) and a ninth place for André Greipel (Lotto Soudal), three German drivers were able to present themselves in the top ten.
Tour Locations | Driver | Country | Team | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Marcel Kittel | Germany | Quick Step Floors | 2:28:11 |
2. | Caleb ewan | Australia | Orica Scott | st |
3. | Mark Cavendish | Great Britain | Dimension Data | st |
4. | Matteo Pelucchi | Italy | Bora Hansgrohe | st |
5. | Phil Bauhaus | Germany | Sunweb | st |
6. | Elijah Viviani | Italy | Sky | st |
7. | Andrea Guardini | Italy | UAE Team Emirates | st |
8. | Edward Michael Grosu | Romania | Nippo Vini Fantini | st |
9. | André Greipel | Germany | Lotto Soudal | st |
10. | Alexander Porsev | Russia | Gazprom-RusVelo | st |
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