UAE Team’s Costa is king at Abu Dhabi Tour Queen Stage
abu dhabi — History’s blessings were with Rui Alberto Costa as the UAE Team Emirates rider clinched the third stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour at the country’s heritage heartland of Al Ain on Saturday.
The Portuguese rider earned the overall race leader’s Red Jersey in general classification by finishing the 186km queen stage in a time of 4:34:08 and beating Team Katusha Alpecin rider Ilnur Zakarin to the line. The win has almost ensured the Championship for the UAE Team Emirates rider in its debut year.
The Al Maryah Island Stage started from the iconic Sheikh Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium and 156-rider peloton passed through the historic Qasr Al Muwaiji — birthplace of the UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and covered the picturesque Al Jahili Fort, oasis, Al Qattara Souq, Al Hili and Green Mubazzarah.
The crosswinds did make life difficult for riders. It was the final stretch of 15km that set the tone of the race with an uphill finish to Jebel Hafeet at an altitude of 1,025m and an 10.8km climb with slopes with an 11 per cent gradient. And it was Rui Costa who came out best from the iconic climb and exploded in the straight finish on asphalt.
Costa said the win wasn’t easy with so many good riders. He stunned the favourites — Alberto Contador of Trek - Segafredo, Nairo Quintana of Movistar Team, Vincenzo Nibali of Bahrain — Merida and Fabio Aru of Astana Pro Team by attacking six kilometres from the line.
“I tried to surprise others with an attack. I started the final climb a long way back and I had to put a lot of effort to reach in front. When I attacked, it was just to see how it went and who came with me but my legs responded well. Ilnur Zakarin came with me, then at the finish I drew on some of the energy I had managed to save in the last couple of kilometres. After the attack, I didn’t know whether or not to persist but in the end I decided to keep going. It was the right strategy. I worked well with Zakarin, also because we knew that the guys behind were very strong. The cooperation between us was absolutely key,” he said after the race.
Costa said the win will boost his morale for the rest of the season.
“For us it was very important to have a great result here. I wasn’t under pressure but psychologically I knew we had to perform our best. We won and there couldn’t be a better result. We are happy for this victory here in Abu Dhabi, with a new sponsor and a brand new jersey.”
Tour ambassador Mark Cavendish of Team Dimension Data continues to hold onto the Green Jersey based on general individual classification by points.
Marco Canola of Nippo — Vini Fantini bagged the Black Jersey for his intermediate sprint jersey classification.
The final stage on Sunday will be on Yas Island with 26 laps of the Yas Marina circuit, each of 5.5km with three intermediate sprints. The first Intermediate Sprint is on lap 11 with 15 laps to go, the second at 10 laps to go and the last Intermediate Sprint comes with just five laps to go. The final 250m are on straight, flat asphalt. It will be an interesting battle with Costa in Red Jersey.