The riders of Dubai Tour turned up the intensity at stage 2. Tinkoff-Saxo’s young Danish champion Michael Valgren showed good signs ahead of tomorrow’s important stage by finishing 9th in the final bunch sprint, where Elia Viviani proved to be the fastest. After the 187km stage to the iconic Palm Jumeirah, Directeur Sportif Tristan Hoffman was pleased to see Michael Valgren commit himself in the final sprint.

“Michael stepped up today and showed that he’s in good shape and motivated. He’s not a pure sprinter, so for him to be in the mix with guys like Viviani and Cavendish is a good sign. I already knew that he’s strong from the results at the training camp, but it’s great to have it confirmed”, Hoffman says.

The sprinter’s teams controlled the race and the bunch brought back the last rider from the breakaway before going into the finish. Multiple teams were battling at the front after the final 180 degree corner going under the red kite at the tip of the Palm Island. In the end, yesterday’s winner Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep) was beaten by Elia Viviani (Team Sky) on the line.

The final 10km were made nervous by crosswinds, tricky roads and a hectic battle for positioning – something that didn’t go unnoticed by Michael Valgren himself.

“It was a really fast and tense finale. We had some crashes and a lot of constant braking, so I must admit that I was a bit edgy at that point”, explains Michael Valgren. “But with 5k to go, I thought to myself ‘oh what the hell let’s take the chance’ and I made my way through the pack and gave it my best at the front”.

Climbs coming up on stage 3

The stage was touched by several crashes, which also affected Tinkoff-Saxo. Evgeny Petrov and Robert Kiserlovski crashed with 40 kilometers to go. Tristan Hoffman is however confidant that the two will be able to continue ahead of the important stage 3 with a short but steep finishing climb.

“Kiserlovski and Petrov crashed on one of the open windswept stretches. Kiserlovski had quite a few external bruises, but he managed to get back into the field, which is good, because we need to be ready tomorrow”, confirms Hoffman, who’s joined in his expectations by Michael Valgren.

“I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s stage. It’s not a killer stage, but the last part of the climb with 200 meters of 17 percent is tough. I’m calm and I have a good feeling about my shape – but it’s early in the season so I will have to wait and see how the legs are when I arrive at the bottom of the climb”, finishes Michael Valgren.