At the premiere of the Abu Dhabi Tour, the first stage was launched today in a desert oasis. Paul Voss (Bora-Argon 18) initiated the breakaway group with an attack directly after the start. After he rode in front for five kilometers as a soloist, other riders bridged and a quintet created a gap of up to four minutes.

In very hot temperatures of over 40 degrees some riders had to pay the price for the conditions and they fell back from the leading group. Paul Voss remained in front until the second intermediate sprint, which he won, before he went back to the peloton. Voss took over the black jersey of the race’s best sprinter.

Due to the high temperatures the organizers shortened the race and they cancelled the final lap of 14.5 kilometers. Thus, the field began the chase in the last hour of the race. With one kilometer to go, all attackers were caught and a compact field went into the finale. Andrea Guardini (Astana) won the bunch sprint, Michael Schwarzmann sprinted to 9th place. Since he won precious bonus seconds in the intermediate sprint, Paul Voss is placed 4th in the general classification.

"Despite temperatures of 46 degrees, we had the goal to race actively and to go for the sprint jersey. Accordingly, Paul attacked immediately, made the group and won the second sprint. In the final, we focused completely on Michael. The ninth place is certainly OK, but in the next few days we want to score an even better result. Tomorrow there will be the next chance, because a bunch sprint is expected on the flat circuit in Abu Dhabi", sports director Enrico Poitschke concludes after opening stage.