The first stage of the UAE Tour 2024 between Al Dhafra Walk Madinat Zayed and Liwa ended as expected with a bunch sprint. In the first showdown of the fast-finishing men, Tim Merlier from Belgium came out on top ahead of Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) and Jakub Mareczko (Team Corratec - Vini Fantini). There was a mass crash on the finishing straight in the hectic finale. More on this below.
Tim Merlier on his victory on stage 1
While Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) and his Colombian compatriot Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates) started the sprint too early and their legs went to sleep at the end, Merlier proved to have the right instinct, setting off again after he had already had a clear path early on and passing Gaviria and Molano a few metres before the finish.
"At first I was a bit built in and then a bit too early in the wind. But Gaviria and Molano opened the sprint very early. Then I still had problems finding the right gear. But when I picked up the necessary pace again, I caught up with them and the finish line came at exactly the right moment," said Merlier, describing the finish sprint from his point of view.
UAE Tour 2024 - Results: The top 10 of stage 1
- Tim Merlier (Soudal - Quick Step) 3:09:55
- Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +0:00
- Jakub Mareczko (Team Corratec - Vini Fantini) +0:00
- Fabio Jakobsen (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) +0:00
- Sam Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:00
- Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) +0:00
- Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates) +0:00
- Simone Consonni (Lidl-Trek) +0:00
- Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:00
- Jarne van de Paar (Lotto-Dstny) +0:00
How the 1st stage of the UAE Tour 2024 went
After around 25 kilometres, two riders break away from the peloton. Mark Stewart and Marco Murgano from the Corratec - Vini Fantini team organised a pairs time trial for most of stage 1 of the UAE Tour 2024.
The two escapees were granted a maximum lead of just under four minutes. The peloton was on guard all day due to the wind conditions and the associated possible wind edges. However, there were no windy stages, but there were a few crashes, some of which were caused by the hectic pace of the peloton. For example, the German Florian Stork (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) crashed 24 kilometres before the finish, but was able to continue the race.
Top day for Corratec
At the front, Murgano dropped back around 25 kilometres before the finish and was caught by the peloton a little later, followed shortly afterwards by his team-mate Steward. Thanks to the time bonuses earned along the way, Murgano and Stewart are in the top 10 of the overall standings after stage 1 of the UAE Tour 2024. Sprinter Jakub Mareczko rounded off a very good day for Pro Team Corratec - Vini Fantini with a surprising fourth place in the daily classification.
Things became increasingly hectic in the finale of stage 1. The sprinter teams formed their trains. In the final kilometres, there were several roundabouts that had to be negotiated - the last one around one kilometre before the finish. Around 250 metres before the finish, Juan Sebastian Molano was the first of the top sprinters to venture out of cover, Fernando Gaviria followed and overtook his compatriot. However, the two Colombians had made a mistake and Tim Merlier shot past from behind with Arvid de Kleijn and Jakub Marcezko in tow a good 50 metres before the finish, securing the stage win and the overall lead.
UAE Tour 2024: German sprinters have no chance in the final
While Merlier was delighted with his victory, Gaviria punched his handlebars in frustration, knowing full well that he had opened his sprint too early. The highly-rated Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan Team) played no part in the finale, nor did Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious). The two German sprinters were well placed for a long time, but were unable to make a decisive impact.
Mass crash in the final
There was also a mass crash on the finishing straight around 200 metres before the finish when a rider from Bora-Hansgrohe lost control of his bike. Numerous riders went down and injured themselves.
The UAE Tour 2024 continues on Tuesday with an individual time trial. The riders have to complete 12.1 kilometres around Al Hudayriyat Island against the clock.
