UAE Tour cycling 2021 – Mathieu van der Poel claims first stage, Chris Froome struggles in wind

Updated 21/02/2021 at 17:23 GMT

The Dutch Alpecin-Fenix rider overcame a wind-affected opening day to take victory over David Dekker and Michael Morkov in the opening stage, three weeks after he won the cyclo-cross World Championships. Britain’s Adam Yates had a solid first day to put himself in early general classification contention, with many early favourites struggling with the conditions - including Chris Froome.

Mathieu van der Poel takes victory in stage 1 of the UAE Tour

Image credit: Getty Images

Mathieu van der Poel claimed the first stage of a wind-affected opening day at the UAE Tour, where Britain’s Adam Yates had a solid start.

The Alpecin-Fenix rider took advantage after many of the top sprinters were caught up in crosswinds earlier in the stage.

The Dutchman got the better of David Dekker (Jumbo-Visma) and Michael Morkov (Deceuninck-QuickStep) to take victory from a 23-man group, three weeks after he secured the cyclo-cross world title. It was his first ever bunch sprint win at WorldTour level.

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Yates is among the early contenders in the general classification, with many dropping out of the running because of the harsh conditions. The Ineos Grenadiers rider is among a group 13 seconds off Van der Poel.

But Chris Froome, on his debut for Israel Start-Up Nation, was among the big names who effectively had their chances of success ended early, finishing over eight and a half minutes back, with Emanuel Buchmann and Vincenzo Nibali among the others who struggled.

“Today was very windy and a very hard race”, said Van der Poel at the finish.

“After the intermediate sprint a big group went away, and I was able to catch them. It was a really hard race - I know that I can finish it off in the sprint, but I didn’t expect it at all.

"It’s really nice to begin the road season with a win.”

The second of seven stages, a time trial at Al Hudayriat Island Cycle track, takes place on Monday.