The fast men took center stage again in the Middle East.
Traveling from the Dubai Al Mamzar Park to the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, stage five of the World Tour race came with another chance for the sprinters. The odds of a breakaway were slim, but even so, three riders rolled the dice and went up the road, building a gap that hit two minutes.
The flat course wasn’t in their favour, but the trio kept pushing and made the bunch work hard in order to bring them back. As a result, the catch happened only inside the last three kilometers, and the sprint was won by Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), while the experienced Bert Van Lerberghe concluded as the first Soudal Quick-Step rider home.
On Saturday, the UAE Tour peloton will climb one of the race’s most emblematic climbs, Jebel Hafeet, where the general classification of this edition will be decided.
Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images
