BORA-hansgrohe Team (United Arab Emirates) - On the final day of the UAE Tour, the riders took on 145km of racing between Dubai Safari Park and Dubai Walk. The flat parcours was tailored to the sprinters and was capped off, as expected, with a thrilling bunch gallop. Right from the get go, three riders escaped from the peloton and were able to distance themselves by more than 4:30 from the main field behind. The race progressed in a fairly calm manner to the finish, and the peloton did not appear to be in any particular hurry to reel in the leading trio. It was only in the latter part of the race that the escapees’ lead began to be whittled down. In the last 10km, BORA – hansgrohe took over a large portion of the tempo setting, and the breakaway was caught not long afterwards. The teams of the sprinters, including BORA – hansgrohe, then began to jostle for position. After the last corner, in a fast-paced sprint finish in Dubai to cap off the final stage of the race, C. Ewan opened up his sprint, but was overtaken by A. Kristoff and F. Gaviria. After an excellent lead-out by his teammates, Sam Bennett was able to push past the sprinters in the final metres, and cross the line in first position to take his second win of the season. In terms of the general classification, Emu Buchmann ended the UAE Tour in fourth position overall, while BORA – hansgrohe also took out the team classification.

Result:

1. S. Bennett: 3:17:51
2. F. Gaviria: +0:00
3. C. Ewan: +0:00
4. A. Kristoff: +0:00

From the finish line:

“Our lead-out train worked perfectly today. The guys supported me the whole day and helped me to save extra energy. On the last sprint stage, I didn’t have good legs in the finale, but today I felt very good. The field is full of top notch sprinters and to pick up a win against these guys is a great achievement. My win today gives me confidence heading into the next races, and I’m excited to see what I can do there.” – Sam Bennett.

“The strong winds made the stage more difficult, and the guys had to concentrate the whole day. Our goal was to bring Sam [Bennett] into a good position form which to launch his sprint in the last 500m. Then it was up to him to decide when to open up his final sprint. In the end, our plan worked perfectly, and he ended up taking out the final stage of the UAE Tour. We are of course extremely happy with this result. In terms of the general classification, Emu [Buchmann] was able to finish in fourth place overall, which is also a very good result. This week it became clear that he can climb with the very best, and we will see what results he will be able to collect in his next races.” – Enrico Poitschke, Sport Director.