UAE Tour 2019 – Stage 6 Preview
By David Hunter
Ajman – Jebel Jais 177km
To the mountain we go.
New climb alert!
20.7km at 5.5%, with a maximum of 7.6%. This climb is a bit of a monster, so early in the season. It is a relatively consistent affair and lacks the steep gradients of Jabel Hafeet, but who does that suit?
Weather
It seems like a strong fart can cause an echelon in this part of the world! This stage sees a tailwind to begin with, but it then switches to the West and becomes a crosswind. We could see some splits, importantly it should be a tailwind on the climb, making it nice and fast.
Contenders
Primož Roglič – looks ridiculously strong for this time of year. He might not have won on Tuesday, but he dominated that climb. The Slovenian led from the front and was happy to do lots of work to establish a gap. Okay, Valverde managed to beat him to the line, but it was a hugely impressive display of climbing power. He starts this stage with a lead of 21 seconds to Valverde and it’s very hard to see him losing that. Roglič will ride the climb in an aggressive manner, it’s the way he knows how, don’t expect him to simply sit on the wheel of Valverde. He doesn’t have the fastest sprint of the climbers, so winning the stage will be hard, but not impossible.
Alejandro Valverde – 10 seconds for the win, means he needs a big gap to Roglič to claim the GC. This looks too much, and I think Valverde will be happy riding for another stage win. The climb is long enough to blow the peloton to pieces, and we should have a small group of riders left in the closing kilometres. We all know that Valverde will win any type of sprint finish, it’s up to the others to stop this from happening.
David Gaudu – wow! It looks like 2019 will be the year he starts to fulfil his promise. Gaudu won the Tour de l’Avenir, back in 2016, since that point FDJ have carefully managed his progression. He’s clearly climbing very well, but sitting 38 seconds behind Roglič, he won’t be given too much freedom. A hugely talented rider and I’m excited to see what he can do this season.
Emanuel Buchmann – the German is turning into a hugely consistent rider. I’m not sure why he decided to lead out the sprint, on Tuesday, but I hope he doesn’t do it again. He’s sitting within touching distance of the podium and will hope to end the stage in the top 3. Bora have Davide Formolo to help chase down any moves and Buchmann will expect to be fighting it out for the win.
Dan Martin – the Irishman is 1:01 down, that means he’ll get some freedom. He was put right on his limit by Roglič and eventually cracked, but there’s no shame in that. This is a different climb, one that is a little easier, something that he should like. He’s not a rider that Roglič will chase, only those interested in the stage will do that. This is a good chance to take UAE’s second win of the week.
Wilco Kelderman – he would have been a little disappointed with his effort on Tuesday. Kelderman came into the race in good form, but finishing 35 seconds behind Valverde wasn’t great. Just like Dan Martin, he’ll now hope to have some freedom on this climb, but it’s not guaranteed. Maybe, Tom Dumoulin will have a try.
James Knox – I was so pleased to see him climbing brilliant on Jebel Hafeet. The unassuming rider is one of my riders to watch in 2019. Don’t get me wrong, winning this stage will be very difficult, but it would be great to see him make the top 10 again.
Prediction Time
I think one of the guys a little down on GC will get some freedom and take the stage, I’ll go with Dan Martin. Roglič to do more than enough to win the GC.
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David Hunter
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