Van Eetvelt soars on Jebel Hafeet to emerge winner at UAE Tour
Belgium’s Lennert Van Eetvelt produced a dramatic summit finish on Jebel Hafeet to claim the final stage and overall victory in the UAE Tour on Sunday.
The 22-year-old Loto rider powered clear around two kilometres from the line to take the 161km seventh stage by 22 seconds from Pello Bilbao and Ben O’connor.
With a 10sec time bonus Van Eetvelt shot to the top of the overall standings, two seconds ahead of Australia’s O’connor, with Bilbao completing the podium.
O’connor’s compatriot, UAE Team Emirates’ Jay Vine began the day in the lead but his hopes bit the dust in the closing climb.
“I was expecting a difficult stage,” Van Eetvelt said, adding that he had been able to stay on the wheels of the leaders.
“Then when we began the climb I told myself I had to give my all.
“I couldn’t be happier,” beamed the rider who was adding this to a race win in Mallorca last month.
“This morning, everyone was pushing me to go all out, even suggesting I could contend for the GC, but I insisted, guys, let’s keep it realistic. I’m still trailing behind many of the world’s top riders like Jay Vine. However, this was the strategy, exactly what I had envisioned.
“It’s crazy to see my name on the list of riders who have won this race ater Remco Evenepoel, Tadej Pogacar, Primoz Roglic. I came for a good result on GC, not for winning, so it’s just amazing. My next race Strade Bianche suits me well. I’m confident I can do
The Loto Dstny team’s Belgian rider snatched the biggest victory of his career to win Stage 7 ahead of Spaniard Pello Bilbao and Australian Ben O’connor and top the general classification standings
a good result there too,” he added.
Van Eetvelt only turned professional last year, making his Grand Tour debut in the Vuelta a Espana where he came in 32nd overall.
Aref Hamad Al Awani, General Secretary of Abu Dhabi Sports Council, said: “The success of the UAE Tour is the result of the professional organization and the support of the wise leadership. We are proud of what we have achieved and we will continue to work hard to make the UAE Tour one of the best races in the world.”
AYUSO VICTORIOUS IN FRANCE: Juan Ayuso capped off a strong day for UAE Team Emirates winning in a four-man sprint to the line to take the victory at the Faun-ardeche Classic.
The young Spaniard was part of a late-race breakaway which formed over the penultimate ascent, Saint-romain-de-lerps, and maintained the advantage on the run-in to the finish in Guilherand-granges.
The four riders held a comfortable gap in the closing kilometres with Romain Gregoire (Groupama-fdj) opening up the sprint but Ayuso proving too strong. Gregoire hung on for second while Matias Skjelmose (Lidl-trek) was third and Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) fourth.
Ayuso said: “The race went really well. It was quite a hard one and the team did a great job with Bax pulling the buch all day and then Novak geting me in position for the climb. Arrieta covered well in the group behind also. I didn’t want to start the sprint from the front but I was hearing in the radio that they were coming from behind so I opened it up early. The guys came past me initially but thankfully I managed to haul them back and take the win. We’ll aim to go for another good result tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, in Belgium Nils Polit took a major result in the first big classic of the Belgian campaign with second place at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
The German teamed up with Tim Wellens to make moves off the front of the bunch before entering the decisive one together with Jan Tratnik (Visma LAB) inside the final -15km.
The duo built a maximum gap of 20” but would hold it steady to the chasing peloton, with Tratnik proving the strongest ahead of Polit in the final.
Politt: “I knew there was some strong sprinters in the group so I was happy to be out front and take 2nd place. Our plan was that Wellens would do something on the Muur and I would cover behind and the plan worked pretty well.
In the sprint I went from the front and was already quite empty but it was beter to take 2nd than nothing from today so I’m happy. Then when his group came back I followed Tratnik and went with him. It’s nice to start the season like this in the first big race for me of the year. “