sutty68 wrote:
Well it wasn't to be on the GC but Izagirre will pretty happy with his performance

tsmoha wrote:


Jack Haig! (nice feature there, to give some short career related infos on attacking riders)

Solid GC for Izagirre, even though you had hoped for more. I suck at TTs, too

Stage 1: Albufeira – Lagos 181 km
On paper a flat stage, but somewhat undulated anyway, with bumps from start to finish



A breakaway of 6 riders form, under rather bad weather condition, Pedro Jose Lopes (UD Oliveirense) get the most from the two KoM climbs. Due to the bad weather we get unusual many crashes today, resulting in 8 abandons and at least some riders continuing with injuries, not the most important though.

It comes to a sort of mass finish, although rather confused and without the usual organized sprint train setup. Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) takes the stage win with no one close.

1	Mark Cavendish	Team Dimension Data	4h34'58
2	Jurgen Roelandts	Movistar Team	s.t.
3	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Team Dimension Data	s.t.

Stage 2: Sagres – Alto da Fóia 181 km
The Queen stage with a hard summit finish after about 15 km of climbing.



A seven rider breakaway will collect the KoM points on the early KoM climbs, Sergio Paulinho (Efapel) strongest with 13 points, but it will not be enough against the 16 points on the finish line. The breakaway was caught with about 70 km left denied the last cat.3

The peloton hits the final climb with 97 riders, but it won’t be long before a significantly reduced leader group have dropped the first 70+ riders.

Getting closer to the top we got 15 riders together when Fabio Aru deliver the winning attack, Jakob Fuglsang counters with Ilnur Zakarin at wheel but they never did get contact to Aru, on the final 400 meters Fuglsang drops Zakarin who was close to exploding and was almost caught by Tiesj Benoot close to the line, but just took 3rd.

1	Fabio Aru	UAE Team Emirates	4h48'24
2	Jakob Fuglsang	Astana Pro Team	+ 10
3	Ilnur Zakarin	Team Katusha- Alpecin	+ 39

Stage 3: Lagoa – Lagoa ITT 20 km

The ITT is semi undulated, with mainly one hard but short uphill section close to the 2nd time check, a good tempo rider with a little punch should be favorite.

Jos Van Emden takes the hot-seat quite early and hold it almost to the end, but was beaten by Edvald Boasson Hagen. Hagen also with a top 10 result yesterday moves to 2nd in GC passing Jakob Fuglsang who lost 56�

Astana’s best was Dario Cataldo 10th at 26�

1	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Team Dimension Data	25'24
2	Jos Van Emden	Team Jumbo-Visma	+ 2
3	Jasha Sütterlin	Movistar Team	+ 6

Stage 4: Almodôvar - Tavira 194.5 km
Although not exactly a flat stage, we got a very flat 15 km up to the finish and the climbs should not discourage the sprinter teams.

Astana’s Laurens De Vreese in the four riders breakaway of the day.

We get an early crash taking down 63 riders, Rodrigo Caixas (LA.Aluminios), John Murphy (Rally), Emanuel Buchmann (BORA), Luis Angel Mate (Cofidis) Pavel Kochetkov (Katusha) Jesus Del Pino (Vito-Feirense) and Oscar Gatto (BORA) not able to continue and all taken to hospital with quite serious injuries.

The break was over with about 4 km left, somewhat unexpected Hugo Hofstetter wins the mass sprint.

1	Hugo Hofstetter	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	4h23'00
2	Mark Cavendish	Team Dimension Data	s.t.
3	Nathan Haas	Team Katusha- Alpecin	s.t.

Stage 5: Faro - Malhão (Loulé) 169.1 km
The final day and final option to try and change the GC, the semi mountain stage with uphill finish may be an option but the final climb although with sections of 13% just 3 km so huge gaps is not very likely between the favourites.



The get a huge breakaway of 15 riders forming over the first 20 km, the group includes very strong puncher Wilmar Paredes (Manzana), he will take 20 KoM points today. With 7 km left four riders from the breakaway still holds 1’48� to the leader group.

But it is was not enough, the pace was very high in the favorite group, again Fabio Aru (UAE) the strongest, winning the stage in front of Bjorg Lambrecht (Lotto Soudal) and Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha)

Best from Astana Jakob Fuglsang 12th, best from the breakaway Wilmar Paredes 20th, none of them lose time as 21 riders got the same time.

With this Aru wins the stage, the race and the KoM,
Edvald Boasson Hagen 2nd in GC, Ilnur Zakarin passing Fuglsang for the last podium due to the bonus seconds of the last stage.



Final Standings GC

1	Fabio Aru	UAE Team Emirates	18h53'23
2	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Team Dimension Data	+ 49
3	Ilnur Zakarin	Team Katusha- Alpecin	+ 54
4	Jakob Fuglsang	Astana Pro Team	+ 56
5	Tejay Van Garderen	EF Education First p/b Cannondale	+ 1'10
6	Daniel Martin	UAE Team Emirates	+ 1'45
7	Andrey Amador	Movistar Team	+ 1'51
8	Thomas De Gendt	Lotto Soudal	+ 1'59
9	Gregor Mühlberger	BORA - hansgrohe	+ 2'05
10	Nairo Quintana	Movistar Team	+ 2'13

Points

1

Edvald Boasson Hagen

Team Dimension Data

69

KoM

1

Fabio Aru

UAE Team Emirates

26

Team
1 Movistar Team 56h45'45

U25

1

Gregor Mühlberger

BORA - hansgrohe

18h55'28 (1)

Stage 1: Amahoro Stadium - Amahoro Stadium 3.1 km

The race starts with a 3.1 prologue in Kigali.
Rohan Dennis (Bahrain) wins the stage in front of Markel Irizar and Fabio Felline both Trek – Segafredo.

Astana’s best Manuele Boaro 15th at 15�, Astana leader Jan Hirt 39th losing 22�

1	Rohan Dennis	Bahrain - Merida	4'35
2	Markel Irizar	Trek - Segafredo	+ 8
3	Fabio Felline	Trek - Segafredo	s.t.

Stage 2: Kigaki - Kirehe 129.3 km

The 2nd stage is rather hilly, passing over the hardest climb just 11.5 km from the finish line.


9 riders break free over the first few bumps, but the pace gets higher and higher on the section leading up to the last two climbs, the break caught and the leading favourite group reduced to just 32 riders.

Astana’s Davide Ballerini attack over the last KoM, taking the mountain jersey but on the finish line Jan Polanc (UAE) was fastest.

Both Davide Ballerini and Jan Hirt struggled in the end and both lost 31�

1	Jan Polanc	UAE Team Emirates	3h31'30
2	Kenny Elissonde	Team Sky	s.t.
3	Samuel Dumoulin	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.

Stage 3: Rwamagana - Musanze 147.1 km

Where yesterday stage was hilly, today we are in the mountains, finishing with first a cat.1 climb, immediately followed by the mountain finish also counting as a cat.1 climb.



We have 17 riders in diffrent group ahead of the peloton when they pass the first KoM, but they all are reeled back in on the descent from the Cat.1.

We got about 40 riders in the first group when they start the last climb. On the climb selection continues from the rear end on the group, with 9 riders sprinting for the stage, Maxime Monfort strongest today.

Jan Hirt comes in with the 2nd group losing 20� as 13th.
Astana’s best in GC Jan Hirt 17th at 1'10�

Maxime Monfort takes the race lead, Adam Hansen (Lotto Soudal) takes 36 KoM points sitting in the breakaway and leads the KoM.

1	Maxime Monfort	Lotto Soudal	4h19'57
2	Kenny Elissonde	Team Sky	s.t.
3	Amanuel Gebreigzabhier	Team Dimension Data	s.t.

Stage 4: Rwamagana - Musanze 70.7 km

Starting and finishing in the same city’s as yesterday and still a hard stage but this time just 70.7 km, and a flat section before the climb to the finish.



An unusual situation where the breakaway never get a cap of more than about 1 minute, and was reeled in mid-stage. José Herrada (Cofidis) strongest today in a group of 20 fighting for the stage win

A much better stage for Jan Hirt today, coming 2nd in a close sprint, moving to 10th in GC.
Maxime Monfort still leads the race.

1	José Herrada	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	2h01'01
2	Jan Hirt	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
3	Mark Padun	Bahrain - Merida	s.t.

Stage 5: Musanze - Muhanga 128.7 km

Another Mountain/Semi-mountain stage, again we got a rather hard route, but with a downhill and short flat section of 18 km from the last top to the finish, might not be able to cause to much damage in the overall leaderboard.



Over the first three climbs 14 riders have distanced the peloton, Holler (Bike) Peyskens (Wallonie) and Nsengimana (Benediction) in front with a group of 10 riders at about a minute and a single rider further back, peloton at 4 minutes.

The groups melt into a breakaway of 9 riders later with Holler and Sepulveda (Movistar) taking most KoM point before it is all neutralized with almost 50 km to the finish.

The pace is brutal over the cat.1 climb and we see no attacks, it comes to a reduced sprint between 26 riders.

José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) strongest in front of Jarlinson Pantano (Trek) and Davide Ballerini (Astana)



Provisional Standings after 5 stages

GC

1	Maxime Monfort	Lotto Soudal	13h45'07
2	Kenny Elissonde	Team Sky	+ 2
3	José Herrada	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	+ 4
4	Rohan Dennis	Bahrain - Merida	+ 17
5	Amanuel Gebreigzabhier	Team Dimension Data	+ 24
6	Fabio Felline	Trek - Segafredo	+ 1'00
7	Toms Skujins	Trek - Segafredo	+ 1'01
8	Jan Hirt	Astana Pro Team	+ 1'04
9	Tanel Kangert	EF Education First p/b Cannondale	+ 1'06
10	Jan Polanc	UAE Team Emirates	+ 1'07

Points

Kenny Elissonde

Team Sky

55

KoM

1

Nikodemus Holler

Bike Aid

78

Team

1

Trek - Segafredo

41h18'26

U25

1

Amanuel Gebreigzabhier

Team Dimension Data

13h45'31

It is a beautiful late winter day in southern France, we are heading out on a sprinter/puncher route with two relative hard hill climbs rather close to the finish.

A relative weak breakaway of three riders build a lead of 4’30, but pose no threat to the favorite teams hunting them down relative easily.

The other teams seem to be totally dominated to Astana’s train, Luis León Sánchez pulling hard over the late hills. Alexey Lutsenko opens for Magnus Cort and the strong duo takes what look like an easy double win.



Results

1	Magnus Cort Nielsen	Astana Pro Team	5h01'30
2	Alexey Lutsenko	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
3	Anthony Roux	Groupama - FDJ	s.t.
4	Julien Simon	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	s.t.
5	Tony Gallopin	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
6	Peter Kennaugh	BORA - hansgrohe	s.t.
7	Jay McCarthy	BORA - hansgrohe	s.t.
8	Hugo Hofstetter	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	s.t.
9	Ruben Fernandez	Movistar Team	s.t.
10	Jean Pierre Drucker	BORA - hansgrohe	s.t.

The stage will take place on Al Hudayriat Island located just 1 km south of Abu Dhabi, the island is not developed and functions mainly as a beach.

Top 5 media favorites:
CCC – Mitchelton – FDJ
BORA – Ag2r



The stage was simulated as all TTT will be.

CCC won the race in front of Mitchelton and Ag2r both teams losing 12�
Some of the strongest team lost a lot of time, Daniel Felipe Martínez will have to find 56� to get back in the race and even worse Miguel Angel Lopez 1’54�, that is a lot of time he has to find on very few race days.

Result

1	CCC Team	20'47
2	Mitchelton-Scott	+ 12
3	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
4	BORA - hansgrohe	+ 30
5	Groupama - FDJ	s.t.
6	Team Dimension Data	+ 42
7	Bahrain - Merida	+ 47
8	Team Sky	s.t.
9	EF Education First p/b Cannondale	+ 56
10	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	+ 1'05
11	Team Katusha- Alpecin	s.t.
12	Team Sunweb	+ 1'11
13	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
14	Direct Energie	s.t.
15	Lotto Soudal	+ 1'16
16	Trek - Segafredo	+ 1'23
17	Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec	s.t.
18	Team Jumbo-Visma	+ 1'28
19	UAE Team Emirates	+ 1'33
20	Arkéa - Samsic	s.t.
21	Israël - Cycling Academy	+ 1'45
22	Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizanè	+ 1'48
23	Wanty - Gobert Cycling Team	s.t.
24	Astana Pro Team	+ 1'54
25	Movistar Team	s.t.

The first real stage of UAE Tour is completely flat. Starting from Yas Mall at Yas Island we are heading north for Khalifa Port, and then back towards Yas Island this time following a costal road.

From Yas Island following the road along the cost heading for Abu Dhabi, passing Al Jubail Island and Saadiyat before reaching Abu Dhabi main Island, passing a lot of bridges. Still following the coast we are now in the centre of Abu Dhabi after passing the Emirates Palace we finish at Al Kasir by the big UAE flag.

The route is likely to become a mass sprint finish with the only possible hassle high wind along the coast and of course high tempratures.

In 1793, the Al Bu Falah Bedouins migrated to the island of Abu Dhabi due to the discovery of fresh water. "Dhabi" is the Arabic word for Gazelle, so Abu Dhabi means "Father of Gazelle".

Top 5 media favorites:
Elia Viviani - Dylan Groenewegen - Alexander Kristoff
Arnaud Démare - Fernando Gaviria

Adrien Petit (Direct Energie), Kristijan Koren (Bahrain), Max Kanter (Sunweb), Moreno Moser (Nippo) and Stéphane Rossetto (Cofidis) attacks within the first few km, but the peloton is aggressive and over the first almost 100 km they never get more than a minute.

We get a huge crash in the peloton after 70 km, Astana’s Laurens De Vreese and Jakob Fuglsang both down, all in all 23 riders down.

Soon after we get the message that Gianluca Brambilla (Trek) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Dimension Data) are both out of the race. Meiyin Wang (Bahrain) continues with some ugly bruises. Will be hard days coming for him.

In the confusion caused by the crash also Loic Vliegen (Wanty) bridge to the breakaway, the 6 riders got 1’19 passing the points sprint. Kanter wins the sprint in front of Moser.

The sprinter teams keep up the pace, and even before the last intermediate sprint the breakaway was over. Fernando Gaviria (UAE) takes the sprint in front of Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) and John Degenkolb (Trek)

After that we got a “chase fire� period where the pace was very moderate and we saw no attacks.

Somewhat surprisingly John Degenkolb (Trek) wins a close sprint in Abu Dhabi in front of Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo) and Arnaud Démare (FDJ).

It is worth noting that “home team� UAE’s young sprinter Juan Sebastián Molano finished in top 10, whereas pre-stage favourites Alexander Kristoff and Fernando Gaviria from the same team was way back.

With no ambitions on the flat we are just glad everyone came in safe

Result

1	John Degenkolb	Trek - Segafredo	4h01'09
2	Dylan Groenewegen	Team Jumbo-Visma	s.t.
3	Arnaud Démare	Groupama - FDJ	s.t.
4	Christophe Laporte	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	s.t.
5	Elia Viviani	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.
6	André Greipel	Arkéa - Samsic	s.t.
7	Sonny Colbrelli	Bahrain - Merida	s.t.
8	Rudy Barbier	Israël - Cycling Academy	s.t.
9	Juan Sebastián Molano	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
10	Fabio Jakobsen	Deceuninck-Quick Step	s.t.

GC

1	Josef Cerny	CCC Team	4h21'56
2	Michael Schär	CCC Team	s.t.
3	Riccardo Zoidl	CCC Team	s.t.
4	Szymon Sajnok	CCC Team	s.t.
5	Joey Rosskopf	CCC Team	s.t.
6	Pawel Bernas	CCC Team	s.t.
7	Simon Geschke	CCC Team	s.t.
8	Clément Venturini	Ag2r La Mondiale	+ 12
9	Daryl Impey	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
10	Alexis Gougeard	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.

Points

1	John Degenkolb	Trek - Segafredo	26
2	Dylan Groenewegen	Team Jumbo-Visma	20
3	Arnaud Démare	Groupama - FDJ	16

KoM

N/A

Team: CCC Team

Young: Szymon Sajnok - CCC Team

valverde321 wrote:
Lets hope Fuglsang isn't injured for the rest of the race. Nice to see Degenkolb win in a sprint ahead of big names!