When he suffered a second mechanical in as many days Tom Dumoulin threw his bike during a very impressive tantrum. No help arrives despite his shouts down the race radio.
Tom Dumoulin tantrum after mechanical in Abu Dhabi
Tom Dumoulin said of his TT mechanical in Abu Dhabi Tour on Saturday: "It really sucks". But when he had another problem with his bike today he upped the ante.
Stricken by the roadside going up the final climb, he took a bit of a turn; 'for the worst' rather than 'on the front'.
And, as the clip below shows, he looks like a 5-year-old who has just been told he can't have chocolate ice cream unless he eats his greens.
The cameras pick him up as he appears to be shouting into his race radio to those in the team car.
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And when no assistance arrives, he throws a very decent wobbler. This is, without question, a very good effort.
#RideToAbuDhabi @tom_dumoulin haciendo un @SirWiggo en @Abu_Dhabi_Tour
? @CyclingHubTV pic.twitter.com/RHfgLmdMHp
— Pasión Ciclismo ?? (@pasiociclismo) February 25, 2018
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Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) were riding away from everyone up the Jabel Hafeet.
Race leader Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing) had begun to go backwards more than 6km from the summit finish.
And his slip meant Wilco Kelderman, Dumoulin’s Sunweb team mate, had a great chance of winning the race outright.
After Saturday’s TT Kelderman had rocketed up the standings to 5th, just 16 seconds off Dennis. Valverde was two places and six seconds further back in the general standings.
And when only around a dozen riders were in the fight close to the top of the ascent on the final stage today, the race for outright victory was between Valverde and Kelderman.
Dumoulin emptied the tank to try and limit his team mate’s losses as Valverde pulled away on the climb.
Ultimately the Giro champion slipped off the back of the group. And Kelderman was on his own in the fight to keep the gap to Valverde as small as he could.
The cameras then picked up Dumoulin by the roadside in a deeply unhappy moment.
Meanwhile, Valverde attacked those he was with. And while Lopez matched him, Valverde won the stage and took the overall.
Kelderman was 2nd overall, at 17 seconds, having lost just 15 seconds to Valverde on the finish line. Lopez was 3rd overall, 29 seconds down.
Valverde, who has served a doping ban in the past, has now taken the final winner's jersey and a stage apiece in Abu Dhabi Tour and Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.
Just weeks away from his 38th birthday, he has started 14 races so far this year. He has already won both stage races he has ridden.
And he has taken 2nd, 3rd and 4th in three of the four one-day races he's contested. That is despite only coming back from a long lay-off since breaking his kneecap on the opening stage of the Tour de France last July.
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