Cycling: Last Friday there was a mass sprint at the Abu Dhabi Tour. Phil Bauhaus (Sunweb) won this ahead of his compatriots Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin) and Pascal Ackermann (Bora-hansgrohe). But not only because of the historic triple triumph of the Germans was this day something special. Four names were named as potential winners immediately after crossing the finish line. Also, the sprint was insane through and through. Velomotion takes a look at what might already be the most interesting sprint of the season. Let someone say that flat stages in cycling are boring...
Cycling Analysis: This sprint was totally insane
As expected, the ended third leg of the Abu Dhabi Tour in a mass sprint. The protagonists proved to us on February 23, 2018 that such a sprint for the day's victory can be extremely exciting and interesting. Surely every spectator will recognize right away that it was damn close. Nobody could name the winner Phil Bauhaus with certainty. At least the German-speaking fans were pleased that three Germans came out on top and another finished sixth. How strange and interesting this sprint actually was, however, only becomes clear on closer inspection. With our first big cycling analysis of 2018, we will now show you frame by frame that mass sprints and flat stages also have a lot to offer.
1) The sprint preparation on the last 200 meters
The last corner has been passed. The battles for positions have long since been fought out. Anyone who is not among the first 20 drivers now has no chance of winning the day. The roles are actually clearly divided. Up front, Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott) sets a hell of a pace for his captain Caleb Ewan. Behind them we have the approach for Elia Viviani in Fabio Sabatini (Quick-Step Floors). These two teams hold all the aces with about 200 meters to go. In the end, none of them will end up in the top 3...
Because behind them are those who will ultimately take the podium. Pascal Ackermann (Bora-hansgrohe) - intentionally or not - opens a sprinter hole to Elia Viviani. He has the best position but is in danger of losing it. Phil Bauhaus (Sunweb), Mark Renshaw (Dimension Data), André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) and Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin) lined up one after the other on his rear wheel. On the right, behind Caleb Ewan, we see four riders who are actually positioned as well as the pros on the left. Ultimately, however, they will have nothing to do with the outcome of this cycling race. Why? We'll see that soon...
2) Viviani and Ewan too early in the headwind
If we switch on just a few moments, something decisive has already happened. Mezgec looks around and realizes that he is his teammate Ewan can no longer give a slipstream. For him, that's the end of the job. Ultimately, he will end up in rank 20. Sabatini however, now passes him on the right and wants the pace for the captain again Viviani increase. This one, however, drives off to the left Mezgec past, which of course now completely lets its legs down and has to be bypassed by everyone like a traffic divider. The decision of Viviani but has consequences. Now it will too Sabatini useless and the captains Viviani and Ewan are already in the wind. Too early, because there is a strong headwind on the home stretch.
Behind them, the pros still enjoy the luxury of the slipstream. While smock can no longer be seen at all at the lower edge of the picture Renshaw already that there will be nothing to get for him today. Barber tried the rear wheel of on the right side Ewan to keep. must left Ackermann and Bauhaus now make the decision whether to go with Viviani pull left or right at traffic divider Mezgec want to drive by.
3) Bauhaus follows Viviani, all others move to the right
If we only let the video continue for two seconds, we see the decisive move Bauhaus. The eventual winner decides Viviani to follow and left at the two traffic dividers Mezgec and Sabatini to drive by. All other candidates move to the right. This is quite understandable, because as the yellow colored area shows us, the two traffic dividers block almost half the road. There is a lot more space on the right side. But this space will also disappear because everyone is now moving to the right.
We see at the bottom of the picture greipel and smock, who in the current situation cannot know at all where to go. Even if they had excess speed, it would be difficult for them to exploit it. At the top right, Barbier has meanwhile adapted perfectly to the rear wheel of Ewan sucked in. He actually has the best position of everyone involved. Because he has the rear wheel of the fastest sprinter at the moment. He can also pass him on the right or left. But Barber is simply not yet an absolute top sprinter. He lacks the speed to take full advantage of the slipstream. Besides, he will make a wrong decision later...
4) Bauhaus is passing and Greipel sees the gap opening up
Now we are finally in the hot phase. There are only about 50 meters left. Anyone who is slowed down again now has no more chances. We can see this on the right-hand side, where - as already indicated - everything is condensed in the blue zone. There Ewan will now pull a little to the right, there are five drivers in an area that actually only has space for one man. And because Ewan now has been riding in the wind for a long time and his strength is dwindling, he is becoming significantly slower. Even though he's still on course to win, he'll end up only fifth. All sprinters behind him are completely eliminated from the race. Barber, who had the best position earlier, is only seventh in the end.
So the decision is not made on the right, but on the left and in the middle in the last 50 meters. Bauhaus try right now Viviani to pass. Both will now sprint head to head to the finish line. There Ackermann seems to be pulling further and further to the right greipel suddenly his chance came. Everything in the green: The German old master has a higher speed, can take the slipstream with him and everything is clear in front of him exactly in the middle. smock on the other hand, it hangs on the right behind Greipel and still doesn't know where on earth he should go.
5) Kittel turns everything inside out, Greipel has to brake
In the last picture before the finish line we will see how quickly a supposedly good situation can change into a hopeless one. Just now - maybe 1,5 seconds ago - thought greipel to the stage win. He already knows that it can't even be the podium anymore. We remember the picture before: With an excess of speed he saw the huge green gap opening up in front of him. This has now given way to a narrow red alley through which the gorilla certainly cannot fit. greipel stops sprinting, otherwise he will cause a fall. He cannot convert his pace into a good result. In the end he is sixth. Bitter: Right next to Ackermann and to the left of Ewan would now have been the green gap. Ewan moved to the right, Ackermann to the left. Had greipel guessing this, he would have raced past Ackermann on the right and won the stage.
Während greipel has to slow down and on the far right the train with the Ewan locomotive is slowing down, something unbelievable is now happening on the left. smock drove all the way over to the left. That I Viviani and Bauhaus keep orienting yourself towards the middle, suddenly a seat on the left becomes free. smock shoots right into that gap at incredible speed. meanwhile will Viviani, Ackermann and even Ewan slower and slower because all three of them have been pointing their noses to the wind for a long time.
6) Bauhaus wins and Kittel is late
The fascination of cycling, the fascination of flat stages: after 133 kilometers the pros reach their destination. In this analysis, we have only observed the last 200 meters. We can now see that even with this still image, it is difficult for us to see who actually won this stage. However, the target photo then proves: Phil Bauhaus triumphs before Marcel Kittel, Pascal Ackermann and Elijah Viviani. caleb ewan finishes fifth ahead of a frustrated one Andre Greipel. The gap between Ackermann and Ewan is still free, but he lags behind Ackermann and Bauhaus firmly. At the same time thinks smock, that he won the stage because of course he races across the finish line with the most momentum.
Joy and sorrow are sometimes so close together in cycling. Even after more than 100 kilometers, only millimeters decide between first and fourth place. We only understand the reasons for triumph or defeat when we look at the arrival frame by frame. From André Greipel for example, there was no speech after this stage. But if he had made the right decision with 20 meters to go, he probably would have won. Had, had, bicycle chain...
Rob says
Nice report, thanks for the effort!
Christian says
Very nicely done, thanks for the certainly great effort.
Matthias says
Finally a report that explains a sprint really well, especially for non-sprinters. Thank you very much for this really expert analysis.
Matthias
Chris says
I can only agree with the comments: very well written, super explained! Thanks very much.
More of that!