The picture at the finish in Dubai was similar to the previous day. Lorena Wiebes came out on top on the 145-kilometre second stage of the UAE Tour. Like the day before. Again clearly. Even more clearly. The 26-year-old Dutchwoman from Team SD Worx-Protime crossed the finish line with a lead of several bike lengths - after a more than chaotic finale. Franziska Koch from Mettmann (Team FDJ-SUEZ) rode away from the poorly organised field as a soloist in the last 500 metres and had hopes of winning the day. However, 200 metres before the finish Wiebes flew past her. In the end, she finished ahead of the Italian Chiara Consonni (Team Canyon-SRAM-zondacrypto) and Nienke Veenhoven from the Netherlands (Team Visma-Lease a bike). Koch ultimately finished in 13th place.
In an initial reaction on Eurosport, stage winner Wiebes said: "I was scared." During the stage, the teams slowed down the pace to an extreme extent and rode below 30km/h at times on the completely flat stage. After that, the race became so fast and chaotic that even the more hardened Wiebes sensed the danger. Around 1.1 kilometres before the finish, there was a major crash in which the Swiss co-favourite for overall victory, Marlen Reusser, was also involved.
Lead extended
Wiebes celebrated her success as a lone rider, so to speak, after losing sight of her team rider, the Italian Barbara Guarischi. With the day's victory, the sprint specialist extended her lead in the overall race standings from six to 14 seconds ahead of Ireland's Sara Gillespie (Team UAE) thanks to the time credit. The Race continues tomorrow with another flat stage where Wiebes has the chance to continue her winning streak. The race ends on Sunday (8 February) with a mountain finish on Jebel Hafeet.
Andreas Kublik
Editor
