Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) outsprinted Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) and Elia Viviani (Team Sky) in the final stage of Abu Dhabi Tour to take his second victory in the race. Tanel Kangert (Astana) finished safely in the bunch to claim the overall victory.
The final stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour took place under the lights of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi this evening. The peloton lined up for 26 laps of the flat 5.5km circuit, with a sprint finale on everyone’s mind. Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka were fully concentrated on delivering Mark Cavendish to what would be our 32nd victory of the season and so when a 5-rider break went clear early on, we had no problem helping to control the pace.
Eisel then captained Dimension Data’s train as the peloton started the final lap, keeping Cavendish well placed heading into the final few corners. Eisel hit the front with 2km to go and when he was done, Reguigui followed with his maximal effort. Renshaw led through the last right-hander and when the road opened for Cavendish, there was no stopping the Manx Missle from winning on the home straight. The stage podium was completed by Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) and Elia Viviani (Team Sky) respectively.
Mark Cavendish: “The stage was left to Dimension Data to control, none of the other sprint teams wanted to help at all which was quite strange because we have won a stage and they haven’t. Nevertheless, we have the two strongest guys in the race to pull on the front in Mekseb and Jay. They just controlled the break incredibly and stayed so long that the leadout could take over easily. They gave us stability at the front and I had Bernie, Youcef and Mark to lead me out in the final 2km and they did an incredible job. It was important to be at the front because there was a lot of wind and a lot of corners. Giant nearly got the jump on us so I thought it would do me a favour if one of them gets in between myself and Mark, so I let him in but he couldn’t hold Mark’s wheel in the sprint. I was still able to use his slingshot and then Mark’s slingshot in front to accelerate in the last 200 meters. I am really happy to have won the stage again. It’s another win and good exposure for our sponsors and Qhubeka, so it was really nice to be able to do that. “
Abu Dhabi 2016 – stage 4 results:
| 1 | Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) | 3:07:44 |
| 2 | Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
| 3 | Elia Viviani (Team Sky) | ,, |
| 4 | Magnus Cort Nielsen (Orica-BikeExchange) | ,, |
| 5 | Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC) | ,, |
| 6 | Ramon Sinkeldam (Giant-Alpecin) | ,, |
| 7 | Michael Matthews (Orica-BikeExchange) | ,, |
| 8 | Sacha Modolo (Lampre – Merida) | ,, |
| 9 | Mark Renshaw (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 10 | Michal Kolár (Tinkoff) | ,, |
Final general classification:
| 1 | Tanel Kangert (Astana) | 12:27:34 |
| 2 | Nicolas Roche (Sky) | +21” |
| 3 | Diego Ulissi (Lampre – Merida) | +43” |
| 4 | Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) | +01’00” |
| 5 | Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) | ,, |
| 6 | Julien Berard (AG2R) | +01’02” |
| 7 | Ben Hermans (BMC) | +01’29” |
| 8 | Martijn Tusveld (Giant-Alpecin) | +01’38” |
| 9 | Winner Anacona (Movistar) | ,, |
| 10 | Jesper Hansen (Tinkoff) | ,, |
