CLOSE CALL
Olav Kooij breaks Tim Merlier’s winning streak in a tight photo finish sprint. Lennert Van Eetvelt climbs to the top 10 in the GC thanks to seconds gained in the intermediate sprints
Umm Al Quwain, 23 February 2024 – The photo finish has decided the fifth stage of the UAE Tour, 182 km from Al Aqah to Umm Al Quwain. After two victories in two sprints, Tim Merlier had to surrender to 22-year-old Olav Kooij, who started on the left side of the road and was able to resist his rival’s comeback, who consoled himself with the lead in the Green Jersey classification. The stage was characterised by the breakaway of Jacopo Mosca, Harm Vanhoucke, and Lennert Van Eetvelt who, thanks to the 6″ gained in the intermediate sprints, moved up to 9th place in the general classification 37″ behind the Red Jersey worn once again by Jay Vine. Tomorrow in Abu Dhabi last chance for the sprinters before the grand finale in Jebel Hafeet.
Today’s winner Olav Kooij was awarded by H.H. Sheikh Majid bin Saud bin Rashid Al Mualla, Chairman of Tourism & Archaeology Department in Umm Al Quwain, Sheikh Ahmed bin Nasser Al Mualla, H.E. Aref Al Awani, General Secretary of ADSC, and H.E. Haitham Sultan Al Ali, General Manager of Tourism & Archaeology Department in Umm Al Quwain
STAGE RESULTS
1 – Olav Kooij (Team Visma | Lease a Bike), 182km in 4h08’38”, av. speed 43.920 km/h
2 – Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) s.t.
3 – Sam Welsford (Bora – Hansgrohe) s.t.
The Red Jersey Jay Vine with Maryam Al Mansoori, General Manager of Rebound and Sirius Holding Company, representing International Holding Company
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1 – Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates)
2 – Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) at 11″
3 – Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) at 13″
THE OFFICIAL JERSEYS
The leader jerseys of the UAE Tour are provided by ALÉ
- Red Jersey, leader of the General Classification, sponsored by International Holding Company – Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates)
- Green Jersey, leader of the Points Classification – Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step)
- White Jersey, Best Young Rider, sponsored by Nakheel – Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step)
- Black Jersey, leader of the Intermediate Sprint Classification, sponsored by Bin Hamoodah Auto – Mark Stewart (Team Corratec – Vini Fantini)
Mr. Ahmad Al Ghafli, Director Security at Nakheel, with the White Jersey Ilan Van Wilder
PRESS CONFERENCE
Speaking in the press conference, the stage winner Olav Kooij said: “It’s never easy to get it right. I came out of the last roundabout quite well. When Mark [Cavdendish] launched the sprint, I was hoping to find a little gap and I did. On the line I didn’t know because Tim [Merlier] was very close and on the other side of the road. I had to wait a bit to know. I’ve made good base to my condition in the winter. I didn’t get any sickness or injury. I had a win at Clasica de Almeria to come here in the UAE with confidence. This is the team where I started in the development team. I feel very comfortable here. The performance level of this team is very high. In races like this, we come with the team committed to sprints and we’ll do it at the Giro d’Italia also this year”.
The Red Jersey Jay Vine said: “I came to the UAE Tour with a lot of training in the legs. Today it wasn’t super stressful but always something can happen. Passed the last corner, everyone was rushing toass to the front. I enjoyed being in the lead today even more than yesterday. Riding at the front in the last ten kilometres is the less scary place and it’s always exciting to race ahead of bunch sprints. I was trying to keep myself safe and me being safe, it also helped our two riders set to go for the sprint. It’s good to be in the Red Jersey for another day”.
The Green Jersey Tim Merlier said: “It was a very close one like last year with Caleb Ewan. My back tyre was a bit flat at the end. With 6km to go, I felt the pressure was gone. We don’t ride tubeless so we had to make a decision, change bike or try like that. At the end, I tried but I told the guys I’d only try to get some points for the Green Jersey but with 200 metres to go, I saw I might as well win and I went all out. The Green Jersey was a goal, we’ll try to defend it. Last year I had the green jersey to win the last sprint stage and I hope it’ll be just the same tomorrow”.
Mr. Nidal Alashkar, Events in Charge at Bin Hamoodah Auto, awarded the Black Jersey Mark Stewart
STATISTICS
- Olav Kooij posted his 30th pro win, the first one at the UAE Tour. It comes after 3 placements: 2nd in Al Marjan 2022 and Dubai 2023 and 3rd yesterday.
- For the first time Tim Merlier posted a top-3 placement at the UAE Tour which is not a win. So far, when finishing on the stage podium, he had recorded only wins (4).
- Jay Vine counts 3 leaders’ jerseys, a figure reached only by the winners of this race: Tadej Pogacar (10 jerseys / 2 GC wins), Primoz Roglic (7/1), Remco Evenepoel (5/1), Adam Yates (3/1).
TOMORROW’S STAGE – STAGE 6, LOUVRE ABU DHABI MUSEUM-ABU DHABI BREAKWATER 138 KM – ALDAR STAGE
The route
Stage around the city of Abu Dhabi. Departure is from Louvre Abu Dhabi where the first part of the route heads to Saadiyat Island and then to Yas Marina where the race continues westwards before re-entering the city through Khalifa City. Return to Abu Dhabi City and passage over Al Reem Island (Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi) and Al Maryah Island. Passing Qasr Al Hosn, the riders will approach the finale from the south to the north to finish at Abu Dhabi Breakwater.
Final kilometres
The last 5 km are on a wide road with large semi-curves that lead to the finish line on asphalt.
To find out more about the UAE Tour, including details of the official race route, jerseys and sponsors, visit www.theuaetour.com
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