UAE Tour Women 2024: SD Worx takes a gamble - breakaway rider Kraak saves a few metres to the finish line
Sebastian Lindner
· 11.02.2024
There was no time for the winner to celebrate. "Everyone was shouting 'Go Go Go!' on the team radio, so I knew it must be very close and so I didn't dare turn round or throw my arms up," Kraak explained in the finish interview. She was less than five metres ahead of the main field at the finish. Wiebes was the fastest there ahead of Daria Pikulik (Human Powered Health).
Almost in defence, the 29-year-old winner added: "I don't have that much experience of celebrating yet," followed by a shy smile. For Kraak, it was the second professional victory of her career, the first on the Women's World Tour - not counting her success in the team time trial at last year's Vuelta.
Kraak shakes off fellow breakaway riders five kilometres before the finish
Back then, she was still riding for Team Jumbo-Visma. The UAE Tour is the first race for her new team, which makes the victory all the sweeter. "I went full throttle on the climb yesterday, but it didn't work. However, I realised this morning that my legs were still good, so I tried again straight away."
After just a few kilometres, Kraak and three like-minded riders broke away from the peloton. "When we had a three-minute lead and we were working well together, it was clear that something could happen today, as SD Worx only had three riders who could lead the way. I actually wanted to wait for the sprint, but then the others stopped working together and I had to go it alone." Kraak completed the last five kilometres as a soloist.
SD Worx gives away victory due to lack of follow-up work
In the end, she was classified at the same time as the main field, which meant that nothing changed in the overall standings. This means that world champion Lotte Kopecky remains in the lead through their victory at Jebel Hafeet in the red jersey, succeeding Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) as winner of the UAE Tour Women. Neve Bradbury (Canyon//SRAM) and Mavi Garci (Liv AlUla Jayco) finished second and third respectively, with Ricarda Bauernfeind (Canyon//SRAM) the best German in the final standings in tenth place (+1:48), two places ahead of Hannah Ludwig (Cofidis, +2:02)
Despite the overall victory, winning all the classification jerseys except the one for the best young rider (Bradbury) and three stage wins by Kopecky and the Wiebes one-two on the first two days, the mood at SD Worx was modest and the faces of Kopecky and Wiebes in particular were petrified immediately after crossing the finish line. The complete triumph with the fourth victory of the day seemed to be firmly planned.
However, SD Worx had only itself to blame for the fact that this did not happen. Already known as a superior team, with the overall leader in the line-up as well as the firm favourite for the day's victory, the team held back strongly in the chase and demanded support from the competition. However, this only helped sparingly or only when it was too late. SD Worx had made a miscalculation.
UAE Tour Women 2024 - Results: The top 10 of stage 4
- Amber Kraak (FDJ-Suez) 2:27:33
- Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx - Protime) +0:00
- Daria Pikulik (Human Powered Health) +0:00
- Chiara Consonni (UAE Team ADQ) +0:00
- Valentine Fortin (Cofidis) +0:00
- Rachele Barbieri (dsm-firmenich PostNL) +0:00
- Anniina Athosalo (Uno-X Mobility) +0:00
- Agnieszka Skalniak-Sojka (Canyon//SRAM) +0:00
- Clara Copponi (Lidl-Trek) +0:00
- Laura Tomasi (Laboral Kutxa - Fundacion Euskadi) +0:00
The overall standings at the end of the UAE Tour Women
- Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx - Protime) 11:16:51
- Neve Bradbury (Canyon//SRAM Racing) +0:13
- Mavi Garcia (Liv AlUla Jayco) +0:32
- Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) +0:43
- Marion Bunel (St Michel - Mavic - Auber93 WE) +1:00
- Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck) +1:04
- Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek) +1:09
- Silvia Persico (UAE Team ADQ) +1:29
- Mareille Meijering (Movistar Team) +1:29
- Ricarda Bauernfeind (Canyon//SRAM Racing) +1:32
How the 4th stage of the UAE Tour Women 2024 went
The final stage of the UAE Tour Women got off to an unusual start. With rain. However, on the 105-kilometre course through the capital of the Emirates, Abu Dhabi, there were only a few drops overall, which were not to have any influence on the race. There were no crashes due to the slippery road conditions.
114 riders started the race, the same number as on the previous days. Unlike on the first two flat stages, however, the stage picked up speed early on. Various teams attacked right from the start. In the end, a quartet led by Amber Kraak (FDJ-Suez), Sophie Wright (Fenix-Deceuninck), Monica Greenwood (Team Coop - Repsol) and Magarita Misyurina (Tashkent City Women Professional Cycling Team) managed to break away.
The group of the day was able to put more than three minutes between itself and the peloton before SD Worx - Protime picked up the pace at the back. Greenwood won the two intermediate sprints, but that didn't change the fact that the jersey in this classification also went to SD Worx in the person of Kopecky.
Kraak pulls through, mass crash in the final
While Misyurina lost touch with her companions 20 kilometres before the finish, they still had a two-minute lead at this point. With ten kilometres to go, there were still 60 seconds left - so a bunch sprint was on the cards. Especially because Kraak threw everything into the race. Five kilometres before the end, she had shaken off the other two and still had a 45-second lead.
And it should be enough. When Carina Schrempf (Fenix-Deceuninck), who had already tried it this way on stage 1, rode out of the peloton again 1000 metres before the finish, the pace of the chasers increased significantly again, making it really tight. While Schrempf was caught again, Kraak saved a handful of metres on Wiebes to the finish, leaving her no time to celebrate.
There was also a mass crash on the final kilometre. A number of riders from the top 10 were involved, with Garcia, Gaia Realini and Longo Borghini crashing alongside other athletes. However, they all made it to the finish in the end, meaning that nothing changed in the overall standings.
