Viviani first of a tight quartet

Roglic still in the lead before Friday’s decisive stage

Khor Fakkan, 28 February 2019 – It was a tight finish between Elia Viviani, Fernando Gaviria, Marcel Kittel and Sam Bennett, who crossed the line in that order at the end of a strongly contested bunch gallop in Khor Fakkan. Primoz Roglic retained the red jersey for the fifth consecutive day. The Slovenian is the hot favorite to win the inaugural UAE Tour ahead of Friday’s decisive stage to Jebel Jais.

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STAGE RESULT

1 – Elia Viviani (Deceuninck – Quick-Step), 181km in 4h48’59”, average speed 37.580km/h
2 – Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.
3 – Marcel Kittel (Team Katusha Alpecin) s.t.

JERSEYS

The Red Jersey, sponsored by Emirates (General individual classification by time) – Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo – Visma)
The Green Jersey, sponsored by ADNOC (General individual classification by points) – Stepan Kuriyanov (Gazprom – RusVelo)
The White Jersey, sponsored by Nakheel (Best Young Rider born after 1 January 1994) – David Gaudu (Groupama – FDJ)
The Black Jersey, sponsored by Abu Dhabi Aviation (Intermediate Sprint Jersey Classification) – Stepan Kuriyanov (Gazprom – RusVelo) – Jersey will be worn by Charles Planet (Team Novo Nordisk)

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1 – Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo – Visma)
2 – Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) at 21″
3 – David Gaudu (Groupama – FDJ) at 38″

PRESS CONFERENCE

The Stage Winner, Elia Viviani, said: “I asked my team-mates to do a proper lead-out. Michael Morkov did an amazing job. When I saw all those top sprinters in one line, I thought my spot is on the right side of the road. I’m very proud of winning this sprint. After I lost it on stage 2, the boys wanted to demonstrate that we can beat anyone. We can’t always win but today our tactic was for a short and fast lead-out and it worked well at the end.”

The Red Jersey, Primoz Roglic, said: “All stages here are new to me. It’s my first time everywhere and it’ll be my first time [at Jebel Jais] tomorrow. But we’ve showed with the team that we’re ready try to defend the jersey again. We can be confident. Looking at the start list, there are very strong riders in contention, but we don’t need to attack or do something on the climb.”

TOMORROW’S STAGE

Stage 6 – RAK PROPERTIES STAGE – Ajman-Jebel Jais – 175km

Stage 6 course modification
The transfer section towards the actual start (km 0) of tomorrow’s stage has been modified due to a concurrent event. The section will be 8 km long, and therefore the stage length will be 175 km.

The RAK Properties Stage has a profile technically similar to Stage 3, being divided into two distinct parts. The first is a flat approach to the final climb, and the second is about 20km of continuous ascent until the finish line. After departure from Ajman, the route crosses Umm-al-Quwain heading towards Ras Al Khaimah, through Al Marjan Island and Mina Al Arab, as the race heads directly to Jebel Jais Mountain. The final 20km climb averages at 5%, and is generally constant with only slightly higher gradients of around 7% in the last 2km.

Final Km
The final climb includes wide hairpins on a very wide carriageway. Gradient is mostly 4-5% in the first part of the climb and around 5-7% in the second, with a maximum of 9% at 2km to go. Final straight on tarmac.

TV COVERAGE

UAE Tour Stage 6 International TV Schedule available here.

UAE TOUR APP

Download the official UAE Tour App now and stay updated on the race, riders’ timings and all that’s happening during the race:

IOS: https://itunes.apple.com/ae/app/uae-tour/id1451821362?mt=8
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.rcs.uaetour

UAE TOUR PRESS ROOM

From the official online pressroom the media can download high resolution pictures of the race. In order to download the pictures, just go to http://pressroom.rcssport.it/ (username: press/ password: press), select “Media”, then “Cycling”, then UAE Tour. The photos are free of charge for editorial use, as long as both the UAE Tour and the photographer’s name is quoted.

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Photo Credit: LaPresse / Ferrari – Paolone