For the first time in 2014, Rui Costa showed his rainbow jersey when he attacked near the end of today's queen stage of the Dubai Tour. A moment of hesitation led him to believe that he could potentially win the stage and even though he didn't succeed in that mission, he was happy with his feelings in his first big test.

It is a well-known fact that world champions often have a difficult start to their first season in the rainbow jersey as the many commitments often take away their focus on training during the off-season. New world champion Rui Costa faced the same risk but showed on today's queen stage of the Dubai Tour that he hasn't missed many training sessions.

When the race hit the hills, he was always well-placed near the front. On the flat run-in to the finish, he showed his tactical astuteness by launching a wise move at a time where people were looking at each other.

When Omega Pharma-Quick Step stopped chasing, it briefly appeared as though he would take his first win in the jersey but hard work by Stephen Cummings and a surge by Luca Paolini brought him back into the fold with 800m to go.

Nonetheless, he was pleased with the outcome in first important test of the season.

"When I'm racing, I always like to be a protagonist and look for a result," he said. "Furthermore, today I wanted to see how my legs responded in an intense action in order to have feedback on the work I have done in the winter.

"I'm satisfied with the feelings that I had. I know I can still improve, but to be able to attack in the first race is a sign that I appreciate."

"I wanted to show off the rainbow jersey a little bit," he added to Cyclingnews. "I think it's important to do that in Dubai. It's good to be up there and I was looking to win. I thought I had a chance for a while and felt good but they pulled me back."

Costa was full of praise for the stage winner Marcel Kittel.

"Congratulations to Kittel who was able to withstand the high speed we had in the difficult section and then still had the power to sprint at full speed," he said.

Starting at 10.45 CET you can follow tomorrow's final stage on CyclingQuotes.com/live. You can read our preview of the stage here.