Tudor Pro Cycling Team's Arvid De Kleijn impressed on the opening stage of the 2024 UAE Tour, taking a solid second place behind Tim Merlier.
“The day went quite well. It was less difficult than expected,” reflected the 29-year-old, who is competing in the race for the second time in his career, in his post-stage interview. “It was quite warm in the desert... warmer than in the Netherlands. That was quite a change."
The finale of the stage was marred by a big crash in the final few hundred metres but thankfully for De Kleijn, he managed to avert and potential disasters. "In the last five kilometers I stayed with my teammates. They tried to keep me out of the wind and they did a good job,” he explains.
“With 1.5 kilometers to go I only lost Maikel Zijlaard because I got stuck in the sandwich. I then had to find my own way and I succeeded. I was actually a bit too far on the right side of the road, but with 150 meters to go I saw an opening. I went for it and came pretty close, but not close enough to challenge Merlier.”