Tinkoff-Saxo’s Manuele Boaro followed up on his active style of riding from Tour Down Under with another breakaway attempt on stage 1 of Dubai Tour. Despite being caught before the finish line, Boaro managed to secure bonus seconds in the intermediate sprint. The Italian now sits 6th overall, 8 seconds off the lead, while Mark Cavendish took the stage win as well as the leader’s jersey.

Leading sport director Tristan Hoffman is satisfied with the result, as he expects bonus seconds to play a big part at this year’s race.

“After the peloton headed by the sprinter’s teams caught the initial breakaway, Boaroattacked in a solo effort. He took two seconds in the intermediate sprint, which may not seem as much, but it can play a big role in a race like Dubai Tour”, explains Tristan Hoffman after the riders crossed the finish line and adds:

“Our goal for the stage was to get our sprinter Michael Kolar into a good position before the final lap but he still misses the last percentages after his illness at Tour Down Under”.

Stage 1 had both start and finish in Dubai with 145 flat and fast kilometers in between. The early part of the stage was animated by a five-man break that escaped after 10 kilometers. However, the gap was never more than 90 seconds and the group was caught with 25km to go.

Afterwards, before the intermediate sprint, Tinkoff-Saxo’s Manuele Boaro made a surprising solo move as traffic calming installations and speed bumps during the final city laps increased the chances of a breakaway holding off the peloton. After a fast chase, Manuele Boaro was caught right on the intermediate line but managed to grab two seconds putting him into sixth place overall.

In the final sprint it was up to the fast men of the peloton. Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep) won the stage after a long sprint ahead of Andrea Guardini (Astana) and Elia Viviani (Team Sky).

Tristan Hoffman is satisfied with the stage and sees Dubai Tour as an ideal way of preparing for the season, while racing at full speed.

“In general, the riders like to race Dubai Tour – I mean it’s a special place with quality hotels, good food and a nice climate. We focus on two things here. We want to secure the best result possible, but it’s also a great way of preparing for the later races”, concludes Tristan Hoffman, who reckons that tomorrow’s stage will resemble that of today.