As fate would have it, it was destiny's will that the UAE Tour was the first round of the World Tour campaign and therefore the first the first major objective of UAE Team Emirates.The start of the big calendar will be combined with the home race.
For this reason, a solid and reliable team was announced at the start of the race under the direction of Joxean Fernández Matxinwith Andrej Hauptman, today director but once Oscar Freire's podium partner in his second world championship, and Marco Marzato. The three of them at the controls of the car to direct a "seven" formed by Tadej Pogačaras leader, together with Davide Formolo, Jan Polanc, Mikkel Bjerg, Rafal Majka, Fernando Gavira and Max Richeze..
With Pogačaraiming for the overall, "this is a race that one day I want to win, if it's this year, so much the better" he commented, from the team did not hide that they were going absolutely all out and with everything: "We want to go up a step compared to last year, that is to say to win, but also Gaviria already has good records in this race and being our man in the sprints." said Matxin at the start.
It was a very complicated start, as already in the first stage a breakaway 100 kilometers from the finish put the legs of the favorites to the test. The formation of fans at the start of an intermediate sprint caused a huge destruction in the peloton. UAE Team Emirates was able to place Pogačarand Gaviria in the first group, accompanied by Richeze and Berg, to emerge alive from an overall in which an unbridgeable eight-minute gap opened up between groups, discarding many people almost without having started.
The assault on the lead by Pogačar
The time trial of the UAE Tour this year was summed up in the thirteen kilometers of the Al Hudayriyat circuit. Tadej Pogačarmade the most of his exceptional versatility by signing the fourth time at the finishHe was second to his teammate Bjerg, but he made up ground on the rest of the field to take the lead with Almeida and Cattaneo not far behind.
With a brutal selection made on the first day and the time trial, the third day was no less easy. The first high finish put the spotlight on the two best riders from the previous year, defending winner Adam Yates and contender Pogačar. The problem for the Englishman would be the loss of half a minute long in the time trial.
Far from standing still, Yates would make things very complicated for the leader. Pogačarwith several attacks that left the rest of the riders behind. The scabechina favored the Slovenian, who certified at the top his leadership with a stage victory.
“We wanted to win here and we did it -said Pogačarat the top of Jebel Hafeet. I was able to respond to Yates' attacks, it wasn't easy to follow him and that's why the victory tastes so good to me. There's still a lot of race ahead and we know what can happen at any moment."
After the fourth stage without incident, Pogačarwas dedicated to keep things as they were in the second high finish, this one in Jebel Jais. Aware of how complicated the situation was, Yates hardly troubled the leader who saved without problems the most compromised day on paper. He would be second at the finish.
The final two days had sprint finishes, among which Fernando Gaviria, tenth on the final day in Abu Dhabi, was able to show up. The Colombian was the UAE Team Emirates forward that certified the victory of Tadej Pogačaraccompanied on the podium by Asam Yates and Joao Almedia, the latter more than a minute behind, in a photo that spoke of the level of the rivals.
"This was the first big goal of the year - commented the reigning Tour de France winner - both for me and for the team. It will be a pleasure to return next year to defender the number one jersey". The season will continue for the Slovenian pearl this weekend with one of the most unique classics of the campaign, the Strade Bianche.
PhotosBettiniPhoto / Fizza Photo
