Jasper Philipsen takes home victory in the first stage of UAE Tour, more disappointment for Mark Cavendish

Published 20/02/2022 at 13:45 GMT

This first stage of the race was a 184 kilometre ride on a straight out and back course, which went into the desert south of Madinat Zayed. There was an intriguing backdrop to this first WorldTour race of the year, with many sprinters having already opened their accounts for the campaign. It was the first major gathering of sprinters, with much expected of Philipsen, and he delivered late on.

Jasper Philipsen

Image credit: Getty Images

Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Fenix took home the victory in the first stage of the UAE Tour, after a pulsating finish to the race.

Philipsen finished with a time of four hours, 42 minutes and 34 seconds to claim the red jersey, while Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) took second and Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers) third.

There was more frustration for Mark Cavendish, who was racing alongside Philipsen, but had nowhere to go after all of his routes were blocked off.

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As for Philipsen, his tactical move at the finish reaped dividends, as he went to the right alongside the barriers to close off Dylan Groenewegen and claim the first stage win.

This first stage of the race was a 184 kilometre ride on a straight out and back course, which went into the desert south of Madinat Zayed.

There was an intriguing backdrop to this first WorldTour race of the year, with many sprinters having already opened their accounts for the campaign.

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Cavendish (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) came into this Tour having already won his battle against Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) in Oman, while Viviani achieved success for the Ineos Grenadiers in Provence, and Groenewegen came out on top for BikeExchange-Jayco at the sprints in Saudi Arabia.

It was the first major gathering of sprinters, with much expected of Bennett and Philipsen in particular; both of whom made their first starts in stage one of this race, while Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ), Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) and Alberto Dainese (DSM), were hoping to get off the mark after slow starts.

With 35km of the race still to go, it looked all set for a sprint finish, with Cavendish, Philipsen, Bennett, Ackermann, Viviani, Démare, and Groenewegen all involved and adhering to the pre-race script for this stage.

While all seemed to be going smoothly for the leading contenders, there was a crash in the peloton with Rick Zabel (Israel-Premier Tech) taking a tumble after a touch of wheels.

It was a peloton lacking any significant pace, with the speed at just 40 kph, in what made the term ‘sprint finish’ a tad ironic.

But the race livened up with a bump in the peloton, which fortunately did not lead to any crashes, as the pace increased to 55 kph.

The pace then increased to 70 kph in the final three kilometres, ahead of chaotic finish, where it initially looked like Bennett had crossed the line first.

But it then came to light that Philipsen made his move up on the nearside barriers to take the victory in a thrilling end to the race.

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UAE Tour