🇦🇪 REPORT: @uae_tour @MarkCavendish and Cees Bol on today's Stage 1: 📰👉bit.ly/3IbffBr #UAETour #AstanaQazaqstanTeam 📷 @SprintCycling
A "higher concentration of sprinters here than in the Tour" - Mark Cavendish on UAE Tour competition
CyclingMonday, 20 February 2023 at 20:30
The UAE Tour features four pan-flat stages in the space of only a week. It is a virtually unique opportunity at World Tour level for the sprinters to enjoy such opportunities, and Mark Cavendish believes that the competition in the UAE surpasses that of even the Tour de France.
"This is where we hope to get the ball rolling. It provides a perfect opportunity to hone and build the team to ride in the finals of the bunch sprints," Cavendish told the media in the press conference that anteceded the race. The Manxman rode to a third place on the opening day after riding strongly in the crosswinds, a good sign for the days to come.
"It's always an important race, especially for the sprinters, you know? Of course, the climbers will win here with Jabal Hafeet and Jabel Jais, but in terms of all of the sprinters in one place at one time, there's no other race like this in the world. So it's important for us as sprinters and for our team and it's good to try and get the ball rolling early in the year," the veteran says.
His move to Astana Qazaqstan Team seems to see Cavendish with little pressure to perform, as Alexandre Vinokourov acknowledged the difficulties and lack of time to prepare a strong leadout for this early in the season. At the Tour of Oman Cavendish had only one opportunity to sprint, but even the shallow gradients - where Tim Merlier coincidentally also won - were enough to put him out of contention.
The winds however of this week's race seem to be a lesser challenge for Cavendish. However he will require the speed in the sprints, as today alone in the small group that battled for victory he was beaten by Tim Merlier and Caleb Ewan.
"Probably a higher concentration of sprinters here than in the Tour so it's very, very important to us. And on a personal level, it's important, I spend a lot of time here and Abu Dhabi is like a second home. So I'm always happy to be here," he added.
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