Abu Dhabi Tour: Slightly uphill end helped to go past Ewan: Alexander Kristoff
Kristoff, winner of the last stage in the recently concluded Tour of Oman, bided his time behind sprinter Caleb Ewan of Mitchelton–Scott, and overtook the Australian in the nick of time aided by the slightly uphill end - to claim the Red Jersey.
Created - 6 years ago
ABU DHABI: After claiming victory for the UAE Team Emirates on Stage 1 of the 2018 Abu Dhabi Tour, Alexander Kristoff was chuffed to have beaten pure sprinters on the flattest stage of the Tour. Interestingly, Kristoff, winner of the last stage in the recently concluded Tour of Oman, bided his time behind sprinter Caleb Ewan of Mitchelton–Scott, and overtook the Australian in the nick of time aided by the slightly uphill end - to claim the Red Jersey.
“Even if Caleb Ewan is low on his bike and offers no draft, I managed to pass him. I was happy to do so and I was relieved when I crossed the line first,” said Kristoff after the race. “Normally, a race like today with tailwind and headwind but very few crosswinds it's not easy for me to beat all the pure sprinters but the slightly uphill end suited me. I got to the front after I lost my lead-out man, Roberto Ferrari,” he added.
Despite losing his lead-out man, Kristoff got the opening when Ewan launched his attack and with the Norwegian saving up his energy in the back peloton for most part of the race, he had enough left in the tank to out ride Ewan.
Kristoff, who finished second behind Peter Sagan in the 2018 World Championship Road Race, averaged just 89 watts of power for the first 2.5km. Ewan hit the front early but Kristoff judged his effort perfectly - using Ewan's slipstream to hit top speed, and emerged to the Australian's left-hand side. Ewan later admitted that he launched the sprint a bit too early.
“I felt like I launched my sprint too early,” said Ewan. “But I was a little bit forced into going early. I didn’t want to hesitate against the headwind because I’d lose all my speed. It was probably about fifty meters earlier than I hoped to have gone but I just had to hit out and try to hold on. It was a little bit too long for me. I’ll come for revenge tomorrow. I feel very good. I must not repeat the same little mistake again,” he added.
Kristoff, however, was quick to retaliate that this is only Stage 1 and aim is to go for the General Classification, which with time trial, makes for a tricky proposition. “I’ll have another two chances for a bunch sprint finish but the GC is more important for the team. However, the time trial makes it more difficult for us to win the Abu Dhabi Tour this year but we’ll try,” he said.
Stage 1 also turned out to be an excellent day for Italian outfit Bardiani-CSF. Andrea Guardini would go on to be placed second in the sprint, among a world-class field of fast men, but earlier in the day it was Vincenzo Albanese who impressed by co-operating well with his four fellow escapees.
An average power of 267 watts in the first two hours shows the sustained effort required. The 189km loop into the desert saw the riders enjoy a tailwind on the way out and a headwind on the way back.
Thus André Greipel's numbers, while almost identical for average and peak power in the first hour and third hour, produce an average speed of 44.9km/h and 38.7km/h respectively.
With so many top sprinters at the race, the final kilometres were widely expected to be hectic, and so it proved.
“Even if Caleb Ewan is low on his bike and offers no draft, I managed to pass him. I was happy to do so and I was relieved when I crossed the line first,” said Kristoff after the race. “Normally, a race like today with tailwind and headwind but very few crosswinds it's not easy for me to beat all the pure sprinters but the slightly uphill end suited me. I got to the front after I lost my lead-out man, Roberto Ferrari,” he added.
Despite losing his lead-out man, Kristoff got the opening when Ewan launched his attack and with the Norwegian saving up his energy in the back peloton for most part of the race, he had enough left in the tank to out ride Ewan.
Kristoff, who finished second behind Peter Sagan in the 2018 World Championship Road Race, averaged just 89 watts of power for the first 2.5km. Ewan hit the front early but Kristoff judged his effort perfectly - using Ewan's slipstream to hit top speed, and emerged to the Australian's left-hand side. Ewan later admitted that he launched the sprint a bit too early.
“I felt like I launched my sprint too early,” said Ewan. “But I was a little bit forced into going early. I didn’t want to hesitate against the headwind because I’d lose all my speed. It was probably about fifty meters earlier than I hoped to have gone but I just had to hit out and try to hold on. It was a little bit too long for me. I’ll come for revenge tomorrow. I feel very good. I must not repeat the same little mistake again,” he added.
Kristoff, however, was quick to retaliate that this is only Stage 1 and aim is to go for the General Classification, which with time trial, makes for a tricky proposition. “I’ll have another two chances for a bunch sprint finish but the GC is more important for the team. However, the time trial makes it more difficult for us to win the Abu Dhabi Tour this year but we’ll try,” he said.
Stage 1 also turned out to be an excellent day for Italian outfit Bardiani-CSF. Andrea Guardini would go on to be placed second in the sprint, among a world-class field of fast men, but earlier in the day it was Vincenzo Albanese who impressed by co-operating well with his four fellow escapees.
An average power of 267 watts in the first two hours shows the sustained effort required. The 189km loop into the desert saw the riders enjoy a tailwind on the way out and a headwind on the way back.
Thus André Greipel's numbers, while almost identical for average and peak power in the first hour and third hour, produce an average speed of 44.9km/h and 38.7km/h respectively.
With so many top sprinters at the race, the final kilometres were widely expected to be hectic, and so it proved.
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