Tim Merlier received the primary stage of UAE Tour on Monday, pipping Lotto Dstny’s Caleb Ewan in a dash finish.
The two riders completed shoulder to shoulder prompting a 10-minute delay because the race organisers pored over the photo finish in a bid to separate them. They opted in opposition to calling it a useless warmth and gave Merlier the win by the slimmest of margins.
“I was not sure,” Merlier stated afterwards. “I do know I did an excellent soar in the tip, and I knew after I began my dash that it was an excellent dash.
“But Caleb was coming from the wheel and you know he’s a dangerous guy if he is in the wheel. In the end it was really close.”
Mark Cavendish was third after a windy trip of 151km on the United Arab Emirates’ northern coast.
It was a poor day for house facet UAE Emirates as their crew chief, the newly signed Adam Yates, had his probabilities of profitable slip away in a cross wind.
Instead Merlier’s team-mate and compatriot Remco Evenepoel is now sizzling favorite to win this Tour after his energy led an assault that dropped the whole peloton to 51sec.
A forlorn-looking Yates blamed the desert wind.
“We were actually the only guys in front which means we had to use a little bit more energy fighting for position and fighting the wind. In the end, we didn’t have the legs,” stated Yates after different groups refused to hitch the bid to catch up.
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