Groenewegen clinches UAE Tour fourth stage
dubai — Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen won the fourth stage of the UAE Tour on Wednesday in Dubai in a sprint.
Briton Adam Yates finished in the pack with the same time and retained the leader’s jersey.
The flat 173-km city stage ended in a mass sprint. Groenewegen, followed the wheel of Fernando Gaviria of UAE and then surged past the Colombian.
Groenewegen, who has four indiviudal Tour de France stage wins, was already sitting up as he crossed the line followed by Gaviria and Bora’s German Pascal Ackermann.
It was Groenewegen’s third win of the season after two stages at the Tour of Valencia.
Mitchelton-Scott’s Yates built a 1min 7sec lead on Tuesday on the climb of Jebel Hafeet. The race returns to same mountain on Thursday for the climb that finishes a 162km stage.
The stage winner Dylan Groenewegen said: “The sprint today went much better than the first one at the UAE Tour. It made it a really nice win. My plan for this year is to win as many races as possible. The Giro d’Italia will be very important for me. I hope to win a couple of stages in my first participation.”
The Red Jersey leader of the GC Adam Yates said: “The time difference is never enough but I’m in a good condition and this climb [Jebel Hafeet] suits me as everyone realised yesterday. I hope to have the same legs tomorrow. Training is different to racing. I got confirmation that my training has been good for my first block of racing from here until the Tour of the Basque Country. Later I’ll target the Tour de France and the Olympics.”