Italian rider Jonathan Milan on Monday prevailed in a chaotic scramble for the line to claim first stage honors in the UAE Tour.
Tour de France champion and hot favorite Tadej Pogacar was in contention on his season debut.
The Slovenian, resplendent in his world champion’s rainbow jersey, launched the sprint 350m from the finish only to run out of steam close to home. He had to settle for 10th place.
Photo: AFP
“It was supposed to be a lead-out for our sprinter, but he crashed out, so I was kind of stuck in the lead-out idea,” Pogacar said.
Milan was followed home by Jasper Philipsen, but the Belgian was demoted to 52nd place for hampering Finn Fisher-Black.
The New Zealander inherited second place, with Denmark’s Tobias Lund Andresen third.
Pogacar proved he embarks on the season in good shape, displaying plenty of verve throughout the 138km ride from Madinat Zayed to Liwa, United Arab Emirates, to suggest he would be the man to beat come Sunday’s time-trial conclusion.
Pogacar is aiming for a third win in the race after 2021 and 2022.
Milan was enjoying his moment in the sunshine after a tough day in the saddle.
“I feel brutally tired after this sprint. The warmth and the last 700m of the race have made it really tough, more than I was thinking. It was a pretty intense day,” Milan said.
“I must thank my guys. They controlled, supported me and led me to the final stretch. I’m super happy with this victory, it was so hard,” added the 24-year-old, who is with the Lidl-Trek team.
Pogacar was looking forward to testing his fitness yesterday’s second stage, a 12km race against the clock on Al Hudayriyat Island.
“It’s going to be the first real effort of the season. There was a lot of work done this winter and I hope it pays off tomorrow,” Pogacar said.
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