Al Mirfa (United Arab Emirates) (AFP)

The Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) won Sunday in the sprint during the first stage of the UAE Tour and seizes the leader's red tunic and the green jersey of the points classification for his first participation to this race.

He was ahead of his compatriot David Dekker (Jumbo-Visma) and the Danish Michael Morkov (Deceuninck-Quick Step), at the end of the inaugural course which linked Al Dhafra to Al Mirfa (176km).

At the end of a stage marked by many curbs due to the wind, the Dutchman won his first massive sprint in a World Tour race.

Three weeks after his third consecutive title (the fourth in his career) as cyclo-cross world champion, the 26-year-old rider is thus starting his road season in the most ways.

"I said I was coming here as an outsider but today (Sunday) I had good legs from the start (...) The wind made the race very hard, which worked in my favor. I finished (the stage) in the sprint but I wasn't hoping to win at all. It means a lot for me to start my road season the same way I finished cyclo-cross, " van der Poel said after the race.

The winner of the Tour de France 2020, the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Team Emirates), placed himself 6th on the stage and is 5th overall (8 seconds behind), for his first race of the season.

"It was a very hard stage but in the end our team did a very good job with four riders at the front. It's a shame we didn't win the stage but we showed that we was strong and we could fight back. We have a very good chance for the next stages, "the 22-year-old told reporters.

"The UAE Tour is a race that I would really like to win one day. If it can be this year, that would be great," Pogacar said before the start of the competition.

At 35, Briton Chris Froome, now at Israel Start-Up Nation, made his debut in his new colors after ten years at Sky, which became Ineos.

The quadruple winner of the Grande Boucle finished 84th in this first stage.

A 13-kilometer individual lap time around Al Hudayriyat Island awaits the riders on Monday.

© 2021 AFP