Belgium's Philipsen maintains the overall lead

Britain's Cavendish, champion of the second stage of the UAE Tour in Abu Dhabi

Britain's Cavendish celebrates the victory sign at the finish line.

From the source

British Mark Cavendish has been crowned the champion of the second stage of the UAE Tour 2022, the only global race in the Middle East, within the agenda of the International Cycling Union, which is being held in its fourth edition, organized by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, through seven stages, and will continue until February 26.

Cavendish (37 years old), the Belgian Quick Step rider, and the former world champion, succeeded in winning the second stage title (the stage of the International Holding Company), which was held in Abu Dhabi yesterday, after he completed the race distance of 176 km in a time of 4:20 45 hours, and Cavendish overtook the Belgian Jasper Philipsen, the Alpecin Phoenix rider, who came in second place, after he had won the first stage in Madinat Zayed in the Al Dhafra region, while the German Pascal Eckermann, the UAE team cyclist, and the Dutch Olaf Kouig came in fourth. , rider of the Jumbo-Visma team, and in fifth place was the French Arnaud Demar, rider of the Groupama team.

Jasper Philipsen retained the red, green and white shirts for the general classification leader, the leader in points, and the best young rider under the age of 23 after the end of the second stage.

Russian Dmitriy Strakhov also kept the black shirt, designated for the middle speed stage, for the second day in a row.

Philipsin continued his lead in the general classification of the circumnavigation, after the end of the second stage with a total time of 9:03:03 hours, four seconds ahead of Russian Gazprom rider Dmitry Strakhov, who took second place in the standings, while Mark Cavendish rose to third in the general classification. By winning the second stage, he was six seconds ahead of Philipsen, while Ireland's Sam Bennett, the Bora Hansgrohe team, fell to fourth, and Germany's Pascal Eckermann advanced to fifth, and Italy's Elia Viviani, the Ineos rider, was 12 seconds behind the leader in the standings.

Philipsen also topped the overall standings in points, after raising his score to 36 points, ahead of Strakhov by four points. Cavendish came third in the points standings with 20 points, followed by Sam Bennett with 16 points, and Pascal Eckermann with 13 points.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Hamed, Chairman of the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi, Mark Cavendish, crowned the second stage title, in the presence of the Vice President of the International Cycling Federation, President of the Asian Federation Osama Al Shafar, and Secretary General of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council Aref Al Awani.

"G42 - Ajman" stage today

Today, the "G42 - Ajman" stage will be held in a race against the clock for a distance of nine km, which is a speed stage across Ajman roads, in which each cyclist seeks to achieve the fastest time within the specified distance.

statements

■■ Tour champion Mark Cavendish: “I was sure I could win here in Abu Dhabi, and even though a third of the team are making their debuts as professionals in a race on the World Tour, they drove very professionally, and had a great sense of teamwork, And the tactic that contributed to my victory in the second stage.”

■■ Tour leader Jasper Philipsen: “I lost some speed and was too far in the last kilometer, but I pushed as hard as I could to get to the finish line.

I knew Cavendish would be a strong opponent because of the headwinds from his experience, but he was the fastest to reach the finish line.”

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