Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) sprinted to victory in the final stage of the inaugural UAE Tour with Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) claiming the overall title.
The 29 year old had taken the leaders’ red jersey after he and his teammates won the first of the seven stages – a team time trial – last Sunday.
It was a position he would not relinquish, with Roglic effectively securing the title on Friday’s penultimate stage when he triumphed at Jebel Jais.
“As a team we finished the job the same way we started,” Roglic said. “We showed again that we are a very strong team. It’s nice to have started with a team time trial victory and kept the jersey till the end.
“As my first race of the year it’s great to begin with a stage race victory. Results show that we’re ready for a promising season.”
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) finished second overall behind Roglic, with young Frenchman David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) third.
In the last stage, Bennett edged out Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal), who came second and third respectively in a headwind-afflicted sprint.
UAE Tour 2019 – stage 7 results (Dubai Safari Park – City Walk):
| 1 | Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) | 3:17:51 |
| 2 | Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 3 | Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 4 | Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 5 | Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | ,, |
| 6 | Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Merida) | ,, |
| 7 | Maximilian Walscheid (Team Sunweb) | ,, |
| 8 | Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott) | ,, |
| 9 | Matteo Moschetti (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
| 10 | Kristoffer Halvorsen (Team Sky) | ,, |
UAE Tour 2019 – final general classification:
| 1 | Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) | 26:27:29 |
| 2 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | +31” |
| 3 | David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) | +44” |
| 4 | Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe) | +56” |
| 5 | Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) | +01’04” |
| 6 | Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) | +01’08” |
| 7 | Daniel Martin (UAE Team Emirates) | +01’11” |
| 8 | James Knox (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +01’29” |
| 9 | Laurens De Plus (Jumbo-Visma) | +01’45” |
| 10 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) | +01’49” |
