UAE Tour 2022 – Stage 1 preview

By @EchelonsHub

The Route

The description of the stages here in the UAE will be short as you may understand. This opening day is essentially an out-and-back day in the desert through a single roads, 180 kilometers of it. The start and finish line are in the same spot and the finish straight is around 60 kilometers long. No I’m not exaggerating, it really is this basic.

The Weather

Hot! 30 degrees with full exposure in the dry desert tomorrow, I know of many riders who will regret having come here… Also a modest breeze from the south which will see a block headwind for the first few hours of racing, and a block tailwind for the last, but not echelons are expected.

Breakaway Chances: 5%

The conditions are actually good for a breakaway with the constant tailwind for the last hours of racing, but it’s impossible for a breakaway to succeed all week long here due to the interests and how simple the stages are, so this segment won’t be present anymore during this race.

The Favourites

What I like to do in the opening sprint of stage-races is to display the leadout trains that will be on the front of the race. Luckily enough, there will be countless here, with the least technical finish I have ever witnessed and pan-flat roads all day long. Who have we got?

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

Mads Pedersen – Matteo Moschetti – Jon Aberasturi – Antonio Tiberi

Dylan Groenewegen – Kaden Groves – Luka Mezgec

Arnaud Démare – Jacopo Guarnieri – Ramon Sinkeldam – Miles Scotson

Cees Bol/Alberto Dainese – Niklas Markl – Joris Nieuwenhuis

Pascal Ackermann – Max Richeze – Mikkel Bjerg

Rudy Barbier – Rick Zabel – Daryl Impey – Alex Dowsett

Elia Viviani, Clément Venturini/Marc Sarreau, Marijn van den Berg, Max Kanter, Olav Kooij, Matteo Malucelli and Sacha Modolo are all possibilities for the sprint aswell, albeit with no real leadout to help them out at the end. However chaos will be unavoidable, perhaps they won’t need much support to do well.

Prediction Time

⭐⭐⭐Cavendish, Philipsen, S.Bennett

⭐⭐M.Pedersen, Groenewegen, Démare

⭐Ackermann, Barbier, Bol, Dainese, Viviani, Sarreau, Kooij, Malucelli

This will be a beyond chaotic, dare I say dangerous finish as the speeds will be very high and there will be dozens of riders trying to get themselves in the head of the peloton. I expect chaos, so I’ll go with the safest option which is the experienced Quickstep train, getting Mark Cavendish well positioned and into the stage win.

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Rúben Silva

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