Wiebes dominates first stage of UAE Tour, Kool and Veenhoven on the podium – Major crash shocks the peloton

Wiebes won the first stage of the UAE Tour. In a somewhat dull stage, the peloton was shaken up twice: once by a huge crash and in the final kilometers, when the prominent sprinters of the female cycling peloton fought for the day's win. Wiebes proved to be the fastest in that one. Charlotte Kool and Nienke Veenhoven were able to join her on the podium.

After the start of the season in Australia, the female WorldTour peloton traveled to the United Arab Emirates. The second WorldTour stage race of the year began with a flat stage from the Dubai Police Officer's Club to Dubai Harbour. There were hardly any obstacles over the 149-kilometer stage. The course was almost flat and took riders mainly through urban areas. Wide, straight roads accompanied them to the finish, where a sprint awaited them!

After about twenty kilometers, the leading group of the day formed. The lucky ones were Sylvie Swinkels (Roland), Christina Tonetti (Laboral Kutxa - Fundación Euskadi) and Linda Laporta (BePink - Imatra - Bongioanni). Nothing much happened after that while the three built up a nine-minute lead. Laporta had to let go with ten kilometers to go, leaving Tonetti and Swinkels to continue as a duo with a 24-second lead. The peloton let them play for a while but finally caught up to the two at three kilometers from the finish.

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At about 50 kilometers from the finish, the peloton was startled by a big crash. Dozens of riders crashed or were held up. Those involved were Chiara Consonni, Mavi Garcia, and Sofie van Rooijen. Luckily, the damage didn't seem too bad, except for some scrapes and bruises. Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco) was less lucky - she had to abandon the race not much later.

With seven kilometers to go, sprint trains slowly came to the front left and right. The pace went up, and we prepared for the sprint. Three kilometers from the finish, the leading group was over. Immediately, it became much more chaotic. In the last kilometer, a crash occurred.

In the final kilometer, UAE Team ADQ took the lead, putting Van Rooijen in position. But Team SD Worx—Protime timed better and brought Wiebes to the front. Wiebes was much faster in the sprint than the rest, so she didn't even have to push full speed to the finish.

Wiebes relieved that she is still the fastest

Of course, the question for every cyclist is always, am I as good as I was last year? And in Wiebes' case, am I still the fastest sprinter? So yes, she is. "It feels great. It was a fair sprint; we were both full of wind. I am thrilled that my sprint is still at such a high level. But I have two more chances this week, so I have to see this through," the Dutchwoman said in the flash interview.

She then analyzed the final stretch. "It was chaotic, as we expected. But the team did a fantastic job putting me in the proper position. The lead-out from Marta (Lach, ed.) and Barbara (Guarischi, ed.) was perfect. Kool came from behind with speed, so I had to catch her at first. But I felt strong."

So, it became an all-Dutch podium, including Veenhoven. "It's nice to see how many strong Dutch sprinters there are. That we are all here and can compete against each other makes it extra special," Wiebes concluded.

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