Isaac del Toro upsets sprinters to roar into UAE Tour lead on stage 1

The Mexican emulated teammate Tadej Pogacar by having a crack on the finishing straight at Liwa Palace, and he held off the fast-closing Cees Bol (Decathlon) to claim the honours, while Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) came home in third.

The finale was marred by a crash just outside the final kilometre that saw stage favourite Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) among the fallers. 

Ineos Grenadiers took up the reins for Sam Welsford inside the final kilometre, but the Australian was unable to make an impression as the road climbed. Axel Huens (Groupama-FDJ United) sprinted from distance, opening a small gap, and that was when Del Toro sensed his opportunity. He scorched past the Frenchman with a searing acceleration and hit the front, and he had enough in reserve to fend off Bol.  

Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) finished safely in the peloton on a stage that was shortened from 144km to 118km due to high winds.

The flat opening leg of the UAE Tour meant that the sprinters were always likely to have top billing, and Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Premier Tech) was the only rider who tried to upset the odds.

The Swiss rider struck out alone early in the stage and he had a lead of just over a minute on the peloton when word filtered through that the race jury had opted to cut the stage by 26km for safety reasons, removing the passage along the narrow Tal Moreeb cycle track from the route.

Dillier was swept up with a shade under 30km to go, shortly before the day’s second intermediate sprint. Milan took the three bonus seconds there, while Ben Tulett (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Intermarché) available of the chance to snaffle the remaining bonuses.

The UAE Tour continues on Tuesday with the stage 2 time trial at Hudayriyat Island, where world champion Remco Evenepoel is the favourite to triumph on the 12km course, but Del Toro will carry the red jersey into the test.

Del Toro leads Bol by four seconds in the overall standings, while he has a 10-second lead on Evenepoel.