Along with many of the world’s best cycling sprinters at the Tour of the UAE, Dutch rider Dylan Gruenewegen broke the start-of-season record on Friday by winning stage 5 of the Tour of the UAE.
The wind blew away part of the expected sprint finish this week, but Friday’s flat stage ended in a real massive sprint and the sprint teams enjoyed the wide roads here.
In the sprint, Grunewegen overtook Ireland’s Sam Bennett and repelled a belated attack from Colombian Fernando Gaviria.
British veteran Mark Cavendish was only able to take eighth in a field packed with contenders, while Monday’s winner Tim Merlier was fifth.
Overall leader and world champion Remco Evenepoel remained in first, nine seconds ahead of Luc Plapp.
Saturday’s round should lead to a similar scenario with a flat finish and a big sprint expected ahead of Sunday’s Jebel Hafeet final.
sgo/dmk/pb
Source: sports.yahoo.com
