Vincenzo Nibali came away from the Dubai Tour without any major results but the Italian was often spotted on the front of the peloton, working hard for his sprinter Andrea Guardini.

"We had four warm and intense days where we did kilometers important for the goals we have later in the season," he told Tuttobiciweb. "I have done a good job for the team in the finales - I tried to bring Guardini into the best position for the sprint - and that allowed me to do some workouts that are useful for the time trials. It is too bad not having taken a stage win with Andrea, but there will certainly be opportunities for him right from the next race. I will now go back home, hoping the bad weather will not make it too complicated to train. Then I will fly in Oman and this time I will be be accompanied by my wife Rachel."

Nibali worked with teammates Laurens and Lars Boom at the front of the short finale stage for sprinter Andrea Guardini, who finished fifth behind stage winner and overall winner Mark Cavendish of Great Britain.

“With the wind off the sea we had no luck controlling a short race," De Vreese said.

Saturday's stage finished in a mass sprint, and De Vreese, Boom and Guardini will pack up and move to Doha for Sunday's first stage of the Tour of Qatar, while Nibali flies home for a week before returning to the Tour of Oman.