The UAE Tour continues without leaving us a clear dominator in the sprints after the three stages that have been decided in a massive arrival. After Tim Merlier prevailed in the first stage and Juan Sebastián Molano achieved victory on the day this Thursday, In the fifth stage, the Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen has achieved victory after another massive sprint in which the Colombian Fernando Gaviria has been left with honey on his lips to achieve the second victory for Movistar in the race.
On a day designated for a new sprint battle, a cyclist set out to break the monotony before the more than predictable volata: the ‘king of escapes’, the Belgian Thomas de Gendt, who jumped solo in search of the breakaway rolling for more than a hundred kilometers solo before the peloton gave chase just 20 kilometers from the finish line.
A stage finale that was filled with tension when, with 17 kilometers to go to finish, when Soudal Quick-Step broke the peloton with the feared fans to try to distance Evenepoel’s rivals in the general, with Lucas Plapp as the main affected. However, with 10 kilometers to go, the peloton regrouped again, so that finally the stage would be decided by the sprint. In the massive arrival, and after a beautiful battle for position between the teams of fast men, Dylan Groenewegen overtook Fernando Gaviria and Sam Bennett to get his second victory of the year while Remco Evenepoel maintains the lead for another day before the last two stages, with another more than likely resolution to the sprint this Saturday at Abu Dhabi Breakwater.
Classification of the fifth stage of the UAE Tour
1. Dylan Groenewegen (NED/Jayco-AlUla) 3:57:07
2. Fernando Gaviria (COL/Movistar) mt
3. Sam Bennett (IRL/Bora-Hansgrohe) mt
4. Emils Liepins (LET/Trek-Segafredo) mt
5. Tim Merlier (BEL/Soudal Quick-Step) mt
General classification after the fifth stage of the UAE Tour
1. Remco Evenepoel (BEL/Soudal Quick-Step) 16:14:28
2. Lucas Plapp (AUS/Ineos-Grenadiers) at 0:09
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP/Bahrain-Victorious) at 0:13
4. Stefan de Bod (RSA/EF Education-Easypost) at 1:03
5. Wout Poels (NED/Bahrain-Victorious) at 1:06
