Pre-stage favourite Filippo Ganna duly delivered when he stormed to victory in stage two’s 13km individual time-trial at the UAE Tour, today. Photo: Twitter IneosGrenadiers
Pre-stage favourite Filippo Ganna duly delivered when he stormed to victory in stage two’s 13km individual time-trial at the UAE Tour, today.
The Italian world time-trial champion stopped the clock in a blistering 13:56.
Switzerland’s Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-Nippo) took second 14 seconds behind, while Denmark’s Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) completed the podium a further seven seconds adrift.
Speaking after the stage, Ganna said, “It’s never easy to win a time-trial even if you do it with good legs and a strong focus.
“Luckily my body was ready for this effort today. It’s a fantastic result for me and for the team.
“It was a bit strange to ride in the desert and it’s my first time at the UAE Tour.
It’s hard to ride at 55 or 56km/h but I’m really happy today,” Ganna added.
Defending Tour de France champion and pre-race favourite for overall honours, Tadej Pogacar, finished in fourth place and took the race lead.
Pogacar inherited the leader’s red jersey vacated by Mathieu van der Poel following Alpecin-Fenix’s decision to withdraw from the race after a member of the team’s staff tested positive for Covid-19.
After donning the jersey Pogacar said, “I’m really happy with my performance today. The wind was quite strong. I did my best and it was a really good time.
“I’m happy to have the leader’s jersey. I prefer to be ahead than behind on GC.”
Reigning UAE Tour champion Adam Yates had a ride to forget, finishing in 33rd place, 58 seconds behind his Ineos teammate, Ganna.
Tuesday’s stage three over 162km will see the riders depart from Al Ain and climb famed Jebel Hafeet to the finish.
Stage two
| 1 | Filippo Ganna | ITA | 13:56 |
| 2 | Stefan Bissegger | CHE | +0:14 |
| 3 | Mikkel Bjerg | DEN | +0:21 |
| 4 | Tadej Pogacar | SLV | +0:24 |
| 5 | Luis Leon Sanches | ESP | +0:30 |
| 6 | Joao Almeida | POR | |
| 7 | Max Walscheid | GER | +0:32 |
| 8 | Stefan de Bod | RSA | +0:33 |
| 9 | Daniel Felipe Martinez | COL | +0:36 |
| 10 | Matthias Brandle | AUT | +0:38 |
*Selected
| 80 | Louis Meintjes | RSA | +1:34 |
General classification
| 1 | Tadej Pogacar | SLV | 4:00:05 |
| 2 | Joao Almeida | POR | +0:05 |
| 3 | Mattia Cattaneo | ITA | +0:18 |
| 4 | Chris Harper | AUS | +0:33 |
| 5 | Adam Yates | GBR | +0:39 |
| 6 | Neilson Powless | USA | 0:41 |
| 7 | Anthony Roux | FRA | +0:45 |
| 8 | David Dekker | NED | +0:46 |
| 9 | Michael Morkov | DEN | +0:47 |
| 10 | Mattias Skjelmose Jensen | DEN | +0:48 |
*Selected
| 26 | Stefan de Bod | RSA | +8:40 |
| 85 | Louis Meintjes | RSA | +9:41 |
