Abu Dhabi tour 2018

Alexander Kristoff (Team UAE) outpowers Andrea Gauadini (Bardiani CSF) and Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) to win opening first stage one of tour d Abu Dhabi Madinat Zayed. His win nets him the first race leaders jersey.

 The European road champion Kristoff looked out of it with 200m to go but jumped from behind Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin) onto Ewan's tail before powering to the line. Despite a headwind, the Norwegian had enough in the tank to take the win by a clear margin. 

(Dimension Data) Mark Cavendish crashed out of the race in the neutralized zone, suffering concussion and whiplash. The British sprinter remounted and carried on for the opening few kilometres before pulling out of the race.Cavendish's fall overshadowed the opening of the stage.
The Dimension Data rider came down when the official race car appeared to tap on the brakes. This caused several riders to slow, with Cavendish one of the first to hit the ground. He gingerly got to his feet and briefly carried on before pulling over to the side of the road and leaving the race.

 Top Ten stage one Result

 1, Alexander Kristoff (Norway) UAE Team Emirates 4:48:24,  
2, Andrea Guardini (Italy) Bardiani CSF,
3, Caleb Ewan (Australia) Mitchelton-Scott, 
4, Elia Viviani (Italy) Quick-Step Floors,   
5, Daniel McLay (Great Britain) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale,
 6, Niccolo Bonifazio (Italy) Bahrain-Merida, 
  7, Michael Bresciani (Italy) Bardiani CSF,
 8, Danny van Poppel (Netherlan) LottoNL-Jumbo, 
  9, Rudy Barbier (France) AG2R La Mondiale, 
10, André Greipel (Germany) Lotto Soudal