21ST — 27TH FEBRUARY 2021 ADNOC 1 STAGE SUN, FEBRUARY 21ST 2021 TOP SPONSORS OFFICIAL CAR theuaetour.com 21st February 2021 THE STAGE REPORT Stage 1 – ADNOC Stage – km 176 START: Al Dhafra Castle – 139 riders are underway as the flag is dropped at 12:33 pm. The brisk pace and the crosswinds splinter the peloton into four echelons. Less than 10 km into the race, 17 riders are up front, with two chasing pelotons behind them. Shortly after, Ganna leads the first chasing group to merge at the front. At km 13 of racing, the gap is 45”. At km 20 of racing, the gap is down to 23”. The runner-up of last year’s edition, Pogacar, is safely in the front group (approx. 60 riders). The peloton bunches up at km 27, and just eleven riders are left behind (1’ gap). The chasers eventually bridge across to the main peloton with 140 kilometres out. Forty-five kilometres into the race, the compact peloton is riding hard. Average speed after one hour of racing: 51.900 km/h. At the -120 km marker, the peloton is toiling against the side winds and is stringing out. With three kilometres remaining to the intermediate sprint, there is no sign of an early break. Within sight of the IS marker, Deceuninck Quickstep are in prime position. Intermediate Sprint (Habshan Camp – km 64.4) Almeida claims the stage ahead of Goldstein, Cattaneo and Mørkøv. Seventy kilometres into the race, the peloton has splintered again under the strong crosswinds, with two distinct chasing groups separated by 25” and 50”, respectively. UAE Team Emirates, Alpecin-Fenix and Deceuninck - Quick-Step are pulling the leading group. At the -100 km marker, the gap between the front and the chasing peloton has extended to 48”. At km 80 of racing, the divide is further up to 1’04”. Up front, the group is continuing to press on their advantage: at km 85, the gap has reached nearly 1’30”, while behind, the chasing peloton has split again. At km 110, the gap between the leading and the chasing group is down to 1’20”. At km 120, the two echelons are 1’25” and 2’ behind the front group, respectively. The peloton enters the Al Mirfa closing circuit. Intermediate Sprint (Al Mirfa – km 138.4) Almeida claims the second intermediate sprint ahead of Pogacar, Cattaneo and Mørkøv. The chasing group has eased up the pace, and the gap to the front echelon expands to over 2’30”. Upon the last passage on the line before the actual finish, the gap is further up to 3’37”, whereas a second chasing peloton is 4’30” down the road. With a little over 10 km remaining to the finish, Masnada clips off, joined by Powless and a few other riders. The attack is caught up with 7 km to go, but Cattaneo goes off shortly after (-6 km). With a little over 3 km to go, he is 15” up the road. Pogacar tries to bridge across, to help Gaviria. Alpecin are also trying to close down Cattaneo, setting the perfect lead-out for Van Der Poel. FINISH (Al Mirfa – km 176) Van Der Poel claims the stage ahead of Dekker, Mørkøv, Liepins, Elia Viviani, Pogacar, Roux, and then one by one the other riders in the peloton. Time of the winner: 3h45’47”, at an average speed of 46.770 km/h. 21st February 2021 THE WINNER’S PROFILE Stage 1 – ADNOC Stage – km 176 Mathieu van der Poel was born on 19 January 1995, in Kapellen (Belgium). He has been professional since 2014. His record of achievements includes: 2014 BKCP – Powerplus The Ronde van Limburg; one stage at the Tour of Alsace; one stage the Best Young Rider, the Sprints Classification and the Overall Classification at the Baltic Chain Tour. 2015 BKCP – Corendon 2016 Beobank – Corendon 2017 Beobank – Corendon One stage at the Belgium Tour; two stages, the Best Young Rider, the Sprints Classification and the Overall Classification at the Boucles de la Mayenne; the Dwars door het Hageland - Aarschot. 2018 Corendon – Circus One stage at the Boucles de la Mayenne; the Ronde van Limburg; the Road Race at the National Road Championships; two stages and the Points Classification at the Arctic Race of Norway. 2019 Corendon – Circus One stage at the Tour of Antalya; the GP de Denain - Porte du Hainaut; the Dwars door Vlaanderen; one stage at the Circuit de la Sarthe - Pays de la Loire; the Brabantse Pijl; the Amstel Gold Race; one stage at the Arctic Race of Norway; three stages and the Overall Classification at the Tour of Britain. 2020 Alpecin – Fenix The Road Race at the National Championships Netherlands; one stage at the Tirreno- Adriatico; one stage and the Overall Classification at the BinckBank Tour; the Ronde van Vlaanderen. 2021 Alpecin – Fenix One stage at the UAE Tour. 21.02.2021 ORDER OF ARRIVAL ADNOC Stage Average: 46,771 km/h RNK TIME BON GAP NUM RIDER NAT TEAM ID UCI 1. 3:45:47 10 31 VAN DER POEL Mathieu NED AFC ALPECIN-FENIX 10007946203 2. 3:45:47 6 0:00 132 DEKKER David Y NED TJV JUMBO-VISMA 10010947644 3. 3:45:47 4 0:00 87 MØRKØV Michael DEN DQT DECEUNINCK - QUICK-STEP 10003308993 4. 3:45:47 0:00 194 LIEPINS Emils LAT TFS TREK - SEGAFREDO 10007527584 5. 3:45:47 0:00 71 VIVIANI Elia ITA COF COFIDIS 10005502914 6. 3:45:47 2 0:00 1 POGACAR Tadej Y SLO UAD UAE TEAM EMIRATES 10014972740 7. 3:45:47 0:00 106 ROUX Anthony FRA GFC GROUPAMA - FDJ 10003223919 8. 3:45:50 0:03 133 HARPER Chris AUS TJV JUMBO-VISMA 10010996043 9. 3:45:50 6 0:03 82 ALMEIDA João Y POR DQT DECEUNINCK - QUICK-STEP 10010784057 10. 3:45:50 0:03 86 MASNADA Fausto ITA DQT DECEUNINCK - QUICK-STEP 10008912563 11. 3:45:50 0:03 83 ARCHBOLD Shane NZL DQT DECEUNINCK - QUICK-STEP 10005506651 12. 3:45:50 0:03 11 YATES Adam GBR IGD INEOS GRENADIERS 10007059055 13. 3:45:50 0:03 4 GAVIRIA Fernando COL UAD UAE TEAM EMIRATES 10008656828 14. 3:45:53 0:06 193 JENSEN Mattias Y DEN TFS TREK - SEGAFREDO 10036503306 15. 3:45:53 0:06 7 RICHEZE Maximiliano Arie ARG UAD UAE TEAM EMIRATES 10089627778 16. 3:45:53 0:06 96 POWLESS Neilson Y USA EFN EF EDUCATION - NIPPO 10008814351 17. 3:45:53 0:06 36 VERMEERSCH Gianni BEL AFC ALPECIN-FENIX 10006656204 18. 3:46:07 2 0:20 84 CATTANEO Mattia ITA DQT DECEUNINCK - QUICK-STEP 10005839885 19. 3:46:14 0:27 196 REIJNEN Kiel USA TFS TREK - SEGAFREDO 10006570924 20. 3:46:25 0:38 72 FERNANDEZ ANDUJAR Ruben ESP COF COFIDIS 10006587694 21. 3:46:42 0:55 2 BJERG Mikkel Y DEN UAD UAE TEAM EMIRATES 10015825936 22. 3:46:49 1:02 76 VANBILSEN Kenneth BEL COF COFIDIS 10006427242 23. 3:45:47 0:00 53 CARUSO Damiano ITA TBV BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 10004564337 24. 3:54:16 8:29 183 LINDEMAN Bert-Jan NED TQA TEAM QHUBEKA ASSOS 10005961844 25. 3:54:16 8:29 73 HAAS Nathan AUS COF COFIDIS 10005768248 26. 3:54:16 8:29 74 ROCHAS Rémy Y FRA COF COFIDIS 10010164974 27. 3:54:16 8:29 127 ZABEL Rick GER ISN ISRAEL START-UP NATION 10007506366 28. 3:54:16 8:29 171 ARNDT Nikias GER DSM TEAM DSM 10006479782 29. 3:54:16 8:29 152 CARRETERO Hector ESP MOV MOVISTAR TEAM 10015833818 30. 3:54:16 8:29 197 TIBERI Antonio Y ITA TFS TREK - SEGAFREDO 10030804049 31. 3:54:16 8:29 67 ZWIEHOFF Ben GER BOH BORA - HANSGROHE 10007706228 32. 3:54:16 8:29 62 BENEDETTI Cesare ITA BOH BORA - HANSGROHE 10004694073 33. 3:54:16 8:29 186 TANFIELD Harry GBR TQA TEAM QHUBEKA ASSOS 10008696840 34. 3:54:16 8:29 151 VALVERDE Alejandro ESP MOV MOVISTAR TEAM 10001457509 35. 3:54:16 8:29 192 DE KORT Koen NED TFS TREK - SEGAFREDO 10002208853 36. 3:54:16 8:29 156 TORRES BARCELO Albert ESP MOV MOVISTAR TEAM 10005934360 37. 3:54:16 8:29 181 NIZZOLO Giacomo ITA TQA TEAM QHUBEKA ASSOS 10005876160 38. 3:54:16 8:29 187 WALSCHEID Maximilian Richa GER TQA TEAM QHUBEKA ASSOS 10045463375 39. 3:54:16 8:29 184 PELUCCHI Matteo ITA TQA TEAM QHUBEKA ASSOS 10005390352 Page 1 of 4 21.02.2021 ORDER OF ARRIVAL ADNOC Stage Average: 46,771 km/h RNK TIME BON GAP NUM RIDER NAT TEAM ID UCI 40. 3:54:16 8:29 185 POZZOVIVO Domenico ITA TQA TEAM QHUBEKA ASSOS 10002692540 41. 3:54:16 8:29 64 KONRAD Patrick AUT BOH BORA - HANSGROHE 10007167775 42. 3:54:16 8:29 154 MÜHLBERGER Gregor AUT MOV MOVISTAR TEAM 10007631557 43. 3:54:16 8:29 54 HAIG Jack AUS TBV BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 10007834247 44. 3:54:16 8:29 63 BUCHMANN Emanuel GER BOH BORA - HANSGROHE 10007988235 45. 3:54:16 8:29 5 MAJKA Rafal POL UAD UAE TEAM EMIRATES 10005380450 46. 3:54:16 8:29 75 SABATINI Fabio ITA COF COFIDIS 10003105394 47. 3:54:16 8:29 77 VIVIANI Attilio Y ITA COF COFIDIS 10009501132 48. 3:54:16 8:29 26 VENDRAME Andrea ITA ACT AG2R CITROEN TEAM 10009392412 49. 3:54:16 8:29 115 PETILLI Simone ITA IWG INTERMARCHÉ - WANTY - GOBERT MATÉRIAUX10008906301 50. 3:54:16 8:29 6 POLANC Jan SLO UAD UAE TEAM EMIRATES 10050785746 51.