Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) won the opening stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour, while Mark Cavendish crashed out in Madinat Zayed today.
Kristoff held off the challenge of Andrea Guardini (Bardiani-CSF) and Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) to win the 189-kilometre Al Fahim Stage in four hours, 48 minutes and 24 seconds. The Norwegian’s victory in Madinat Zayed makes it two stage wins from his past two outings after winning the final stage of the Tour of Oman last week.
“It’s a great win for me and the team, on home ground,” said Kristoff, who leads the race going into stage two.
“It takes the pressure off now and it’s a really nice feeling. I’m really proud to get the win, my second win of the season. It’s a great feeling to start off like this in a new team.”
Abu Dhabi Tour 2018 – stage 1 results (Madinat Zayed – Madinat Zayed):
| 1 | Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) | 4:48:24 |
| 2 | Andrea Guardini (Bardiani-CSF) | ,, |
| 3 | Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) | ,, |
| 4 | Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) | ,, |
| 5 | Daniel McLay (EF Education First-Drapac) | ,, |
| 6 | Niccolo Bonifazio (Bahrain-Merida) | ,, |
| 7 | Michael Bresciani (Bardiani-CSF) | ,, |
| 8 | Danny Van Poppel (LottoNl-Jumbo) | ,, |
| 9 | Rudy Barbier (AG2R La Mondiale) | ,, |
| 10 | Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
