Russian National Champion Aleksandr Porsev from Team Katusha showed his good form today in the first stage of the Dubai Tour 2015 (UAE), taking 4th place in the bunch sprint.

At the finish, after 145 km of racing, Porsev was very close to the podium, but lost just a few centimeters to Italian Elia Viviani from Sky, who finished 3rd.

"First of all, I want to thank my team. The guys did their very best for me today during the stage and in the final. In this race a number of teams have strong trains for the bunch sprint, so for me the most important is to be in front before the final kilometers to control the situation. The team did all possible for that. Today I felt pretty good, I had the power for the sprint. In the end I was a little bit behind but this is only the first stage. I hope that I will reach the podium in the coming days," explained Aleksandr Porsev.

"Today was a sprinter’s stage and Aleksandr Porsev was our leader. A part of the team, Angel Vicioso, Anton Vorobyev, Eduard Vorganov and Sergei Chernetckii supported him during the race. The main goal was to bring him in front with 3km to go and to help him until the final kilometer. From there it was up to Aleksandr. I think he did a good sprint and I am happy with his result in his first race of the season," added head sports director José Azevedo.

The winner of stage 1 of the Dubai Tour was Mark Cavendish from Etixx – Quick Step, who outsprinted Italian Andrea Guardini from Astana, who was second.

The stage, started from the Dubai International Marine Club, began with a breakaway of 5 riders. However, the advantage of the break was always minimal and at some 20km from the end their break was completely neutralized.

Tomorrow the second stage of the race will be held over a 187km distance.