Cycling: Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) also won Stage 2017 of the 188 Dubai Tour. After the 2 km from Dubai to Ras al-Khaimah, he sprinted inimitably to victory after yesterday's opening success from what was actually a hopeless position. Like yesterday, Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) is second, John Degenkolb just barely misses the podium.
Marcel Kittel is in impressive early form and is preparing to win the Dubai Tour 2017 after his overall victory last year. After his overwhelming victory yesterday, the sprint was harder fought today, but in the end it was clear that Kittel and his team are currently the benchmark among sprinters.
The course of the stage was almost a blueprint of yesterday's start. Again there were five riders who were able to break away from the field within the first 10km and again the escapees had to end their escape on the completely flat course almost 15km before the finish - the pressure was too great, especially from the Kittel team Quick-Step Floors, but also Dimension Data and Trek-Segafredo participated in the work today.
From Marcel Kittel's point of view, the preparation for the sprint did not go as smoothly as yesterday: Tough battles for position, especially between Quick-Step Floors, LottoNL-Jumbo, Trek-Segafredo and Dimension Data, caused quite a mess and when John Degenkolb opened the sprint early, Kittel seemed trapped and in a hopeless position. However, as soon as he started his sprint, a small gap opened up in front of him, which he immediately pushed into and pushed past all the drivers and was the first to cross the line. Degenkolb didn't get the right timing and had to let Groenewegen and Jakub Mareczko (Willier Triestina) pass in the last few meters. In the end, the thankless fourth place remained for the Trek newcomer.
Kittel, on the other hand, should be satisfied with both the team and his own performance. He leads the overall standings by eight seconds and given his performances so far there should be one or two more wins in Dubai.
Final Result Dubai Tour Stage #2
| PLATZ | Driver | Country | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Marcel Kittel | Germany | Quick Step Floors | 04:25:33 |
| 2. | Dylan Groenewegen | Netherlands | LottoNL Jumbo | |
| 3. | Jakub Mareczko | Italy | Willier Triestina | |
| 4. | John Degenkolb | Germany | Trek-Segafredo | |
| 5. | Sacha Modolo | Italy | UAE | |
| 6. | Joan Jose Lobato | Spain | LottoNL Jumbo | |
| 7. | Mark Cavendish | Great Britain | Dimension Data | |
| 8. | Riccardo Minali | Italy | Astana | |
| 9. | Marco Maronese | Italy | Bardiani CSF | |
| 10. | Adamy Blythe | Great Britain | Aqua Blue Sport |
Appreciation Dubai Tour after stage #2
| PLATZ | Driver | Country | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marcel Kittel | Germany | Quick Step Floors | 08:31:46 |
| 2 | Dylan Groenewegen | Netherlands | Team LottoNL-Jumbo | 00:00:08 |
| 3 | Nicola Boom | Italy | Bardiani CSF | 00:00:13 |
| 4 | Jean Pierre Drucker | Luxembourg | BMC Racing Team | 00:00:14 |
| 5 | Thomas Stewart | Great Britain | One Pro Cycling | |
| 6 | Mark Cavendish | Great Britain | Dimension Data | 00:00:16 |
| 7 | Jakub Mareczko | Italy | Wilier Triestina | |
| 8 | Yousif Mirza | Arab Emirates | UAE Abu Dhabi | |
| 9 | Sylvan Dillier | Switzerland | BMC Racing Team | |
| 10 | Peter Williams | Great Britain | One Pro Cycling | 00:00:19 |