UAE Tour 2022 – Stage 6 preview

By @EchelonsHub

Jasper Philipsen has taken another win at the UAE Tour, conquering stage 5 in another absolutely chaotic sprint, beating Olav Kooij and Sam Bennett to the line after Israel and Bora managed to punch through into the final meters in front.

Positive: Philipsen taking another win, Pogacar recovering position in the peloton after puncturing with just 6 kilometers to go.

Negative: Mark Cavendish, Pascal Ackermann and Cees Bol once again missing the fight for the stage.

The Route

Start and finish line in the same spot. This stage is essentially a touristic route through Dubai, with no climbing whatsoever en route to what is another basic finish.

Another sprint with slight bends, but these will likely not be felt in the peloton.

The Weather

A slight breeze from the northwest again, in normal conditions there shouldn’t be too many reasons to worry.

The Favourites

I’d like to tell you that something could be different in this sprint or maybe a surprise could pop up but that won’t be the case. The stage and sprint are both pan-flat and non technical, we will see the same riders go for a sprint that resembles all the other three we’ve seen this week, so it makes sense to have the same structure here.

Leadouts:

Sam Bennett – Danny van Poppel – Shane Archbold – Ryan Mullen

Jasper Philipsen – Jonas Rickaert – Kristian Sbaragli – Robert Stannard

Mark Cavendish – Michael Morkov – Stan van Tricht – Stijn Steels

Dylan Groenewegen – Kaden Groves – Luka Mezgec

Arnaud Démare – Jacopo Guarnieri – Ramon Sinkeldam – Miles Scotson

Pascal Ackermann – Max Richeze – Mikkel Bjerg

Rudy Barbier – Rick Zabel – Daryl Impey – Alex Dowsett

Philipsen has been perfect with positioning, Bennett has also done well. The likes of Cavendish, Groewegen and Ackermann may or may not be in contention for the win, even close to the front in the final kilometre.

Olav Kooij has been thriving on these tough sprints and should be a strong card to play tomorrow. As for Elia Viviani, he may be in contention for victory if INEOS manages to position him well, however, it will be at the expense of his GC riders, who should be saved for the queen stage. In this race what we are seeing is that the first places do not matter more than the instinctive position. The riders come into the final kilometers fresh as a daisy and the finishes have absolutely no technical features at all, the encounters with the line are being chaotic and if you rely too much on a start that won’t do the job well then chances are you will. won’t even run to the line. That’s what happened in both sprints with a lot of world-class sprinters who weren’t even in the Top 10.

Marc Sarreau, Alberto Dainese, Marijn van den Berg, Max Kanter, Emils Liepins, Tom Devriendt, Matteo Malucelli and Sacha Modolo are also riders who will always be considered for the sprint, there is a lot of speed and with ease they should be. capable of breaking into the Top10 if they nail the run-up to the line.

Inside The Bus

This morning I talk to…

#105 Michal Kwiatkowski – Michal, don’t burn yourself too much. Elia is doing fine but we have the queen stage coming up and both you and Filippo need to be fresh to help Adam, and for Filippo to try and hang on too. Leadouts have been chaotic, you can help with the positioning towards the final kilometers but then taper to the line, don’t burn yourself, Elia will have Andrey in the final kilometers.

#112 Tom Devriendt – Tom, I can’t believe I’m talking to you two days in a row! The job for today is the same really, stay in front, don’t be afraid of surfing through many leadouts, a Top10 in the sprint is the goal.

#182 Thymen Arensman – Thymen I don’t know what’s going on. 3 sprints and in only one did we manage to put a single rider in the Top10, it’s really bad we’ve got both Cees and Alberto here. Tomorrow we try to set up Alberto, at least he showed he was present in this last sprint, I don’t know what the plan has been but we will change it, you will be a part of the leadout and work early on to make sure they stay near the front. We may be too exposed early on but if we aren’t even near the front we can’t contest the sprint so we have to at least try. The other guys will do their job, you just keep them in front as long as possible in the final 5Km.

Prediction Time

⭐⭐⭐Philipsen, S.Bennett

⭐⭐Kooij, Groenewegen, Cavendish

⭐Viviani, Démare, Ackermann, Barbier, Malucelli, Dainese

I didn’t put the confidence I should’ve in him honestly. These chaotic finishes are perfect for Philipsen as he is the single best rider in this peloton when it comes to this. He’s clearly got more speed than Bennett who is the only rider who’s been consistent and matching at the sprints, so I expect another win by the Belgian tomorrow.

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Rúben Silva

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