Mathieu van der Poel has won the opening stage of UAE Tour on a day when the crosswinds blew and split the race to pieces on 176km road to Al Mirfa.
Sam Bennett is in the UAE Tour to try and open his season with a stage win but must wait until later in the week as he missed the front group today.
Bennett's Deceuninck-QuickStep pressed hard at the intermediate sprint to ensure Joao Almeida took bonus seconds, with their efforts also splitting the field.
In the end a 23-rider group rode away from the rest of the peloton, which split into several groups, and while the first chase group, containing Sam Bennett, looked for a time like it may get back on terms, that chance was always slim.
With some very strong riders up front, they worked together to ensure they would not be caught and at the finish the lead group was more than eight minutes up on the next group home.
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UAE Tour 2021 - Stage 1 - Finish line pic.twitter.com/iRkyYqj2R6
— UAE Tour presented by AD Ports Group (@uae_tour) February 21, 2021
Deceuninck-QuickStep had five riders up front but while Shane Archbold tried to lead out Michael Mørkøv, Van der Poel (Alpecin Fenix) was far too strong. He took victory just ahead of David Dekker (Jumbo-Visma), with Mørkøv in 3rd place.
The race for the overall already looks to have been significantly shaped after just one stage of the week-long race with Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) all in the lead group today.
Tomorrow's stage is a 13km TT followed by a summit finish on Tuesday and another sprinters' stage on Wednesday, when Sam Bennett will have another chance to clock up his first win of the year.
Bennett, the only Irish rider in the race, was 127th in the large group 8:29 down on Van der Poel.
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