Abu Dhabi Tour (st. 2)

Valverde now 6th overall after phenomenal support from Rojas, Bennati and Sütterlin keeps him at front of bunch during stage two.

Elia Viviani (QST) took Thursday’s win in a fast-paced stage two of the 2018 Abu Dhabi Tour -148km around the Yas sector of the city-, which the Movistar Team covered with a great overall performance as the strongest team in the crosswinds, hitting the bunch during the last sixty kilometers of the race.

Supported by Jasha Sütterlin, Daniele Bennati and José Joaquín Rojas, Alejandro Valverde joined a group comprising less than 30 riders, which kept the rest of the bunch half a minute behind before things regrouped back into the final 15km. Valverde, helped out by Rojas, profited from the split to go for the final intermediate sprint and take a 3″ bonus that puts him into 6th overall -with Rojas, who also grabbed 1″, now in tenth-.

The Emirati race will head for a really short, final flat stage on Friday -133km, finishing at Al Marina- before the decisive weekend for the overall classification, with a TT on Sunday preceeding the Jebel Hafeet showdown on Sunday.

Picture (c): BettiniPhoto.net