UAE Tour 2022 – Stage 2 preview
By @EchelonsHub
It was a calm stage with a furious finish as expected at the opening day of the UAE Tour, the sprint was high-speed with several riders in sight of the win but Jasper Philipsen took the win and race lead on the opening day, beating Sam Bennett and Elia Viviani.
Positive: Philipsen taking another big win, Liepins and Devriendt surprises within the Top10 with such a field.
Negative: Cavendish not having the legs to sprint. DSM failing to be in the sprint despite having two favourites.
The Route
As flat as you can imagine. The second stage of the race is going to be raced in an urban environment unlike today. It will be a very simple day once again though, no difficulties to mention profile-wise, all-in for the sprinters to battle.
The finale will not be technical, the final corner comes with a while to go, and it’s perfect territory for leadouts to once again do their thing.
The Weather
Modest to strong wind from the northwest tomorrow. It won’t be such an exposed day so it won’t be as important, however at the end there will be a headwind in the run-up to the line, this can make a difference in the sprint if it’s felt.
The Favourites
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
Cees Bol/Alberto Dainese – Niklas Markl – Joris Nieuwenhuis
Pascal Ackermann – Max Richeze – Mikkel Bjerg
Rudy Barbier – Rick Zabel – Daryl Impey – Alex Dowsett
From these not all will succeed. Today the chaos was evident as some riders failed to be In the final sprint like DSM. Pascal Ackermann and Mark Cavendish were both at the front but failed to perform completely. In the opposite side Elia Viviani performed quite well despite not having a true leadout, riders like Emils Liepins and Tom Devriendt done so aswell. I think there will be a big balance this week, those teams will very big leadouts may struggle with the confusion at the end, whilst riders going with smaller leadouts may handle the finales better.
Clément Venturini/Marc Sarreau, Marijn van den Berg, Max Kanter, Olav Kooij, Matteo Malucelli and Sacha Modolo are all riders aswell that will always be considered for the sprint, there is a lot of speed and with ease they should be able to get in the Top10 if they nail the run-up to the line.
Inside The Bus
This morning I talk to…
#13 Geoffrey Bouchard – Nothing to tell you here Geoffrey just stay safe, we’ll see what we can do in the mountains.
#141 Jarrad Drizners – Ok I will be honest, I don’t know why you guys were sent here. You can try to get in a breakaway if you want some TV time I guess, there isn’t really anything we can do here so you have green card to do whatever you want.
#37 Artyom Zakharov – Another day of protection, we must keep David safe and your role will be to do so here, no need to get in the confusion of the sprint.
Prediction Time
⭐⭐⭐Philipsen, S.Bennett, Groenewegen
⭐⭐Démare, Cavendish, Viviani
⭐Bol, Dainese, Ackermann, Barbier, Kooij, Sarreau, Malucelli, Liepins
Despite a couple of wins at Saudi Arabia I never got the feeling Groenewegen truly had the speed, however today he looked the fastest, yet blocked in the sprint. Maybe tomorrow he can get that win.
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Rúben Silva
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