UAE Tour 2021 – Stage 6 [FULL STAGE]

February 26, 2021

UAE Tour 2021 – Stage 6 – Deira Island – Palm Jumeirah : 165 km

The UAE Tour is now in its third year of existence following the merger of the shorter Dubai Tour and Abu Dhabi Tour, and, despite last year’s events, the depth of the field is largely in line with the preceding editions. All 19 WorldTour teams have made the trip to Gulf, together with 2020 Europe Tour winners Alpecin-Fenix.

Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-QuickStep) claimed his second stage victory of the 2021 UAE Tour with a convincing sprint on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah island.

As with his win two days ago, the Irishman profited from the work of his lead-out man Michael Mørkøv, and he put daylight between himself and his rivals in the final 150 metres.

Elia Viviani (Cofidis), who lost his lead-out man Fabio Sabatini to a crash, finished second, with Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) third after a long sprint.

Overall leader Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) finished safely in the peloton to retain the red jersey with one stage remaining.

Despite the peloton briefly splitting in the desert, the pan-flat 165km stage headed quietly towards a bunch sprint, although the windy finish on Palm Jumeirah – accessed via a dark tunnel and composed of curved boulevards – made for a hectic finale.

Ineos Grenadiers led the way to the final kilometres, while BikeExchange led into the final kilometre, but it was Deceuninck-QuickStep – and more specifically Morkov – who got it spot on. Whereas the Dane had guided Bennett into position on stage 4, this time he came through to provide a more traditional lead-out, with Bennett hitting out with just over 150 metres to go.

From there, he made no mistake. David Dekker (Jumbo-Visma) was on his wheel but moved out into the wind and faded, as Viviani sprinted in Bennett’s slipstream to take second place and provide further evidence that he is on his way back to form.

Ackermann started sprinting earlier than any of them, having lost Bennett’s wheel and having had to interrupt his initial effort. He bashed his bars in frustration on the line, his third place impressive but ultimately frustrating.

“It feels amazing. Again, I wouldn’t have done it without my teammates today,” Bennett said.

“I think the more sprints we do together, the better we’re getting. It’s becoming more second nature. It’s just about repeating the same thing and making decisions in the final. We’re really getting to know each other and we’re pretty much nailing it at the minute.”

How it unfolded

The stage started out with an early breakaway forming with a minimum of fuss, as Tony Gallopin (AG2R Citroën), Alexey Lutsenko, Luis León Sánchez (Astana-Premier Tech), Matthieu Ladagnous, Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ), and Iñigo Elosegui (Movistar) forged clear.

Gallopin made use of the intermediate sprints to take the black jersey off Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), but there was never any real hope of the group staying away. They were kept on a tight leash all day, never gaining more than four minutes over the peloton, where most of the sprinters’ teams chipped in.

There wasn’t much action in the first half of the race, beyond the abandons of Matteo Moschetti (Trek-Segafredo) and Florian Stork (Team DSM) – who was 12th overall – due to crashes.

With 72km to go, the race suddenly burst into life as the riders felt the wind coming from the side. A big surge in pace led to a group of around 30 riders being detached from the peloton. After several kilometres, they were 30 seconds in arrears, but things calmed down in the front peloton and they made their way back into the fold.

The flurry of action did, however, bring the gap to the breakaway down to a minute with 50km to go. That steadily diminished to the point where the break was caught with 25km remaining.

At that point Dimitri Gruzdev (Astana) launched a speculative new solo breakaway. He was allowed to dangle out front for around 10km but he was calmly brought to heel as Movistar led the bunch.

With 10km to go, things intensified again, with the tunnel onto the Palm Jumeirah presenting a possible pitfall. Sabatini and Matteo Sobrero (Astana) crashed as the peloton swung across to the other side of the highway to enter it, but the bunch otherwise made it out into the light unscathed.

Ineos were dominating the front at that point, although Deceuninck-QuickStep and the other sprint teams moved up in the final few kilometres. After a U-Turn to take them up to the finish line at the tip of the island, DSM flooded the front, followed by BikeExchange, who managed to hold their position all the way to the flamme rouge. They started to lead out, and Bora-Hansgrohe were also prominent, but it was Morkov and Bennett who got it right and set themselves up for a hattrick on Saturday’s final stage.

Results :
1 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-QuickStep 3:32:23
2 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
3 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
4 David Dekker (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
5 Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) UAE Team Emirates
6 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos
7 Kaden Groves (Aus) Team BikeExchange
8 André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation
9 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM
10 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
11 Riccardo Minali (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
12 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
13 Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
14 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
15 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroën Team
16 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
17 Stefan Bissegger (Swi) EF Education-Nippo
18 João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-QuickStep
19 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Team BikeExchange
20 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation
21 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-Nippo
22 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates
23 Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
24 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
25 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates
26 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
27 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo
28 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
29 Chris Harper (Aus) Jumbo-Visma
30 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
31 Mattias Jensen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
32 Gino Mäder (Swi) Bahrain Victorious
33 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis
34 Davide Formolo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
35 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
36 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
37 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R Citroën Team
38 Ruben Fernandez Andujar (Spa) Cofidis
39 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
40 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
41 Davide Villella (Ita) Movistar Team
42 Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma
43 Martin Laas (Est) Bora-Hansgrohe
44 Sergio Higuita Garcia (Col) EF Education-Nippo
45 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
46 Andrey Amador (CRc) Ineos Grenadiers
47 Luke Rowe (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
48 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation
49 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Qhubeka Assos
50 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
51 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
52 Stefan De Bod (RSA) Astana-Premier Tech
53 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
54 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team DSM
55 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
56 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Movistar Team
57 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
58 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
59 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
60 Rémy Rochas (Fra) Cofidis
61 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Team BikeExchange
62 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal
63 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos
64 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
65 Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
66 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
67 Rafal Majka (Pol) UAE Team Emirates
68 Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain Victorious
69 Daniel Martinez Poveda (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
70 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Jumbo-Visma
71 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
72 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
73 Kevin Colleoni (Ita) Team BikeExchange
74 Attilio Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
75 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
76 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
77 Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain Victorious
78 William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
79 Attila Valter (Hun) Groupama-FDJ
80 Ben Zwiehoff (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
81 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R Citroën Team
82 Jaakko Hänninen (Fin) AG2R Citroën Team
83 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
84 Simone Petilli (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
85 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
86 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
87 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
88 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Team BikeExchange
89 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Team Qhubeka Assos
90 Jonathan Milan (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
91 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Start-up Nation 0:00:25
92 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis 0:00:27
93 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM 0:00:29
94 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep
95 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education-Nippo 0:00:32
96 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:00:37
97 Harrison Sweeny (Aus) Lotto Soudal
98 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:01:07
99 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation
100 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:01:13
101 Jack Bauer (NZl) Team BikeExchange
102 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team DSM 0:01:18
103 James Whelan (Aus) EF Education-Nippo
104 Thymen Arensman (Ned) Team DSM
105 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team DSM 0:01:42
106 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:24
107 Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious 0:02:27
108 Brandon Rivera Vargas (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
109 Alexys Brunel (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
110 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
111 Chris Froome (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation
112 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
113 Iñigo Elosegui Momeñe (Spa) Movistar Team
114 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation
115 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
116 Jan Hirt (Cze) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
117 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
118 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
119 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
120 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma
121 Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech 0:02:33
122 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:46
123 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
124 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:03:04
125 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:06
126 Albert Torres Barcelo (Spa) Movistar Team
127 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cofidis 0:06:53
DNF Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Florian Stork (Ger) Team DSM
DNF Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo

General Classification after Stage 6 :
1 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 20:41:59
2 Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:35
3 João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:01:02
4 Chris Harper (Aus) Jumbo-Visma 0:01:44
5 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo 0:01:46
6 Mattias Jensen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:37
7 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious 0:02:39
8 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:03:53
9 Ruben Fernandez Andujar (Spa) Cofidis 0:04:13
10 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:06:30
11 Sergio Higuita Garcia (Col) EF Education-Nippo 0:09:47
12 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:10:31
13 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation 0:10:37
14 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:10:45
15 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:10:52
16 Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma 0:11:07
17 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:11:15
18 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:11:18
19 Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain Victorious 0:11:27
20 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech 0:11:37
21 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:11:45
22 Rafal Majka (Pol) UAE Team Emirates 0:12:05
23 Davide Formolo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:12:09
24 Stefan De Bod (RSA) Astana-Premier Tech 0:12:34
25 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:13:05
26 Gino Mäder (Swi) Bahrain Victorious 0:13:14
27 Ben Zwiehoff (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:13:26
28 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-Nippo 0:13:29
29 Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech 0:14:02
30 Rémy Rochas (Fra) Cofidis 0:14:06
31 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates 0:14:18
32 Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious 0:14:31
33 Davide Villella (Ita) Movistar Team 0:15:31
34 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
35 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:15:38
36 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:15:53
37 Jan Hirt (Cze) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:16:23
38 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:16:47
39 Attila Valter (Hun) Groupama-FDJ 0:17:19
40 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:17:43
41 Chris Froome (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:18:55
42 Daniel Martinez Poveda (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:18:58
43 Jaakko Hänninen (Fin) AG2R Citroën Team 0:20:09
44 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma 0:20:17
45 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:20:25
46 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Team BikeExchange 0:20:31
47 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:20:38
48 Thymen Arensman (Ned) Team DSM 0:20:53
49 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM 0:21:29
50 Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech 0:21:35
51 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis 0:21:46
52 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:22:43
53 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:23:15
54 Simone Petilli (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:24:27
55 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R Citroën Team 0:24:39
56 Brandon Rivera Vargas (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:25:53
57 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:26:11
58 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroën Team 0:26:32
59 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:26:53
60 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Jumbo-Visma 0:28:32
61 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team DSM 0:28:35
62 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education-Nippo 0:28:37
63 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Movistar Team 0:29:53
64 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:31:49
65 Jack Bauer (NZl) Team BikeExchange 0:31:59
66 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R Citroën Team 0:33:28
67 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:33:29
68 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:33:37
69 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:34:35
70 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:34:55
71 David Dekker (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:35:18
72 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:35:43
73 Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:36:10
74 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:36:15
75 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:36:17
76 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis 0:36:19
77 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:37:10
78 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis 0:37:23
79 Kevin Colleoni (Ita) Team BikeExchange 0:37:30
80 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:37:47
81 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation 0:37:59
82 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:38:03
83 André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation 0:38:20
84 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:38:25
85 James Whelan (Aus) EF Education-Nippo 0:38:47
86 Harrison Sweeny (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:38:50
87 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:39:17
88 Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:39:21
89 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:39:31
90 Alexys Brunel (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:39:37
91 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:39:38
92 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Team BikeExchange 0:39:47
93 Iñigo Elosegui Momeñe (Spa) Movistar Team 0:40:45
94 Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain Victorious 0:41:01
95 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:41:54
96 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:42:09
97 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates 0:42:30
98 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:42:38
99 Stefan Bissegger (Swi) EF Education-Nippo 0:43:05
100 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:43:23
101 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:43:48
102 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Start-up Nation 0:43:54
103 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:44:15
104 William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:45:04
105 Riccardo Minali (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:45:09
106 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team DSM 0:45:32
107 Kaden Groves (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:46:07
108 Attilio Viviani (Ita) Cofidis 0:46:15
109 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 0:46:23
110 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:46:27
111 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:46:36
112 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:46:37
113 Albert Torres Barcelo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:46:58
114 Jonathan Milan (Ita) Bahrain Victorious 0:47:16
115 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:47:18
116 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:47:56
117 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious 0:48:18
118 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:48:29
119 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team DSM 0:50:30
120 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:50:51
121 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cofidis 0:51:46
122 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:52:08
123 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM 0:52:21
124 Martin Laas (Est) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:54:50
125 Andrey Amador (CRc) Ineos Grenadiers 0:58:17
126 Luke Rowe (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:58:42
127 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Team Qhubeka Assos 1:01:16