The final stage leads us to the corniche of Muttrah in the port district of Maskat, Oman's capital city. No changes in the GC are to be expected, barring any crashes. The three small ascents towards the finish might trouble some of the sprinters. After his performances in the first few stages, Arnaud Démare is the top favorite, as he's trying to defend his points jersey.

After the first hill, the peloton briefly splits, with all of us getting caught in the second part. We quickly take control and bring everything back together, but that was a wake up call!

On the second hill, I participate with Jan Barta in the relay - both to avoid another situation like before, and because there's really not much else to do.

Atop the final hill, we catch the breakaway - except for one rider who's still in front. Also, the pace over the last kilometers was pretty brutal, do Bennett and Pelucchi have the energy to fight for a good result?

They may have had the energy, but they're hopelessly boxed in. Nicola Boem celebrates a great win from the group of the day as lead out man Jan Barta is our best finisher on 10.

So that concludes my first stage race of the year. The strong performance on Green Mountain gives me a lot of hope for the things to come, but I also see that I have to work on my consistency. Lastly, of course, congrats to Cesare for the polkadots jersey, and to Rafal for the solid 4th overall - although I have to admit I'm looking forward to the races that I'll be leading!

The Abu Dhabi Tour is a very young race. It was established in 2015 as a continental race, and for its first two years, it was a season finisher, with the UCI Gala directly following. This year, all that has changed. The UCI Gala has moved to China, and the Abu Dhabi Tour has moved to World Tour status and a calendar spot in February.

It is, however, one of the new, optional World Tour races (they give less World Tour points, too), and as such, its status isn't quite up there yet. Starting fields have been decent so far, Esteban Cháves and Tanel Kangert won the first two editions. Let's see who turns up this year.

Even more so than a week ago in Oman, the Abu Dhabi Tour has a very straightforward profile. Three pan flat stages with not a single gradient, and then one mountain top finish to decide the GC. With four stages, the tour is also pretty short, so everyone can go all in at all times.

Our lineup is mostly the same as in Oman, with two changes: Cesare Benedetti and Pascal Ackermann are switched out in favor of Erik Baska and Leopold König, who comes off a nice third place at the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal.

On the one hand, that might further diminish my chances of riding for myself. On the other hand, I'm now only "climber number four", which might even give me more of a free role. We'll have to see what the DS decides on stage 3, and how everyone's feeling.

A very clear-cut stage opens the Abu Dhabi Tour: Flat as can be, it should be a safe thing for the sprinters. No added breakaway motivation without mountain points either. We have a clear onjective for today: A stage win for Sam Bennett!

The first break of the day consists of 11 riders, but the peloton continues the trend of not letting them get away too far and keeps the advantage under three minutes. The general pace is very high, but at least it's windless.

As the breakaway is finally caught, the sprint preparations have long begun. Jan Barta and Matteo Pelucchi lead out Sam, while I, as the best rouleur of the climbers present (who would have thought), am tasked with protecting Jan at the front of the train.

Three trains are fighting for the pole position in the sprint: FDJ for Cimolai, Direct Energie for Boudat, and us.

Matteo delivers Sam at the front just before the 1km mark. Third in line is Erik Baska, who's trying to do an Ackermann.

Unfortunately, we went to early. Cimolai has the perfect timing while Sam finishes only 9th. Like in Oman, our train is still not working ideally.

Another circular course takes us into and around Abu Dhabi. Once again, just flat roads and not much more. We need to improve from yesterday.

The break of the day was caught very early, so Sam was able to take the last intermediate sprint. A first, very small success.

Let's jump straight into the sprint. We tried to learn from yesterday's mistakes and rearranged our train: Baska was now the man in front of Matteo to have on more man before Sam is going.

That way, Sam was still behind Matteo within the final kilometer. Could he do it now?

Almost! But eventually, Direct Energie's Thomas Boudat was a little faster. However, we're improving, and that's at least something.

I finished comfortably inside the peloton once again, next to Rafal Majka.

A short stage that culminates in a single steep climb to decide the GC. With Rafal and Leopold in decent shape, this has to be ours! And if they go early, maybe I can ride a little at my own pace, to see what happens!

Jan Barta was present in the break of the day to relieve us back in the pack from relay duties. With a few other good rouleurs like Jos Van Emden, they quickly got a few minutes of advantage.

The pace in the peloton increased when FDJ and Ag2r started the chase, and a few riders were caught by surprised. We were luckily all in the first part, as the rest had to ride furiously for a few kilometers to catch up.

Everything was back together at the foot of the mountain, which allowed Bennett to take the intermediate sprint again in front of Cimolai and Baska. Then, the climb began.

We were very well-positioned, with Patrick Konrad making the pace and me protecting Leopold. Only Rafal was a little behind.

With everyone just wheelsucking behind us, we decided to try something: Patrick himself attacked! We hoped that the rest of contenders would have to chase now.

And they did. Bardiani for Barbin and Lotto for Monfort came to the front, but Patrick was keeping a solid advantage, while the three of us (Majka had returned to the front as well) were in a good position in the second row.

With Patrick still up front, Leopold launched an attack himself within the final 1000 meters. He wanted a 1-2 today. Rafal was still in a good position, while I had to slow down after protecting Leopold for the entire climb.

Our tactics worked to perfection! Patrick Konrad actually held on to his lead to celebrate a huge win! Rafal won the sprint from the chase group to complete a podium sweep for us! What a result!

I tried to hang on to that group, but eventually I lose a few seconds. Still, I finish 15th, which is solid, although not good enough for the white jersey, which goes to Jan Polanc.