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75km to go
Several teams are working behind in pursuit of the front echelon. These include Lotto for Ewan, Bora for Ackermann and others.
Gaviria is up front, proving that his memories of last year's race and his fight against COVID-19 are in the past.
The overall contenders up front are Yates, Pogacar, Caruos of Bahrain and Almeida.
There are 26 riders in the front echelon.
The wind is back to playing an important part in this race. We're over halfway (85km to go) and a group of 26 riders are more than 90 seconds ahead of the peloton pic.twitter.com/mzd1txMYiuFebruary 21, 2021
It's a hard first day in the saddle.
After a slight change in direction, the wind is more of a head wind now.
However the front group is still working hard and so is still 1:30 ahead of the peloton.
.@AdamYates7 has shown why he's the defending champ at #UAETour. He's up there in the first group - which holds a gap of 1:28" pic.twitter.com/5GwDEpQNN0February 21, 2021
Other riders are feeding from team cars.
Adam Yates takes a large musette and loads his pockets.
The paces eases slightly as the echelon passes through a feed zone. It's 26C out there and so riders need fresh bidons and food.
The riders are tucked low over their bikes as they take turns in the echelons.
As like every pace line, the riders move up on the protected side of the echelon, do their brief turn on the front and then slip back with the wind on their right side.
Everyone stays tucked on a wheel to gain as much protection and slipstream as possible.
The worst place to be is at the back and exposed to the cross winds.
The second echelon is losing time and is at 1:25 now.
Tadej Pogacar is in the front echelon with several UAE teammates to help and protect him.
Some sand dunes help protect the riders but the speed remains close to 40km/h into the wind. This is hurting.
The riders face 23km on this road into the cross winds before turning left and feeling the benefit of a tail wind for a while.
Echelon 2 and 3 have come together but they are 1:00 behind the front group.
Gaviria and Viviani are the amongst the sprinters in the first echelon.
Caleb Ewan does not seem too concerned to be in the second echelon. He and Lotto are perhaps confident the race will comeback together near the coast as the circuits changes direction.
This is the bird's eye view of the echelons.
🇦🇪#UAETourIt was just the calm before the storm as the peloton has split into four groups once again. @dekkerdavid and @chrisharper94 have made the front split for us. pic.twitter.com/9u4ufvVh4aFebruary 21, 2021
The wind roads allow 20+ riders to join each echelon.
We can see Pogacar in the second echelon at the moment.
The gaps between the echelons are opening. Group 2 is at 30 seconds, the third echelon is 1:10 behind.
A touch of wheels see two riders go down.
With the wind blowing from the rider's right, there is nowhere to hid but in an echelon.
Adam Yates is in the front echelon. As is Mathieu van der Poel.
We can see four clearly formed echelon spread down on the road.
It's hard at the back.
Caleb Ewan is one of the riders caught behind this time.
And the echelons are back!
The pace remains high.
After a brief pause, Deceuninck have returned to the front to lead out the intermediate sprint and up the pace.
Here we go again! Cross winds!
#UAETour - Calm group heading towards the Habshan Camp intermediate sprint with head/cross wind.Great exposure for all teams as they're all in the breakaway. #LFRlive pic.twitter.com/UpltfanKmHFebruary 21, 2021
The wind is blowing sand across the road but the riders have eased the pace for now.
Chris Froome is safely in the peloton on his disc brake bike. As you may have seen, he again talked about his concerns of the technology on Saturday.
Click below to read what he said.
Chris Froome confirms use of disc brakes in 2021 despite doubts of technology
They can feel the wind blowing from their right but it is not strong enough to spark echelons at the moment.
120km to go
The riders are all together, tucked into the wheels.
The riders have now left Zayed City and are back in the exposed desert.
But there seems little desire to attack for now.
He is in the team cars now. The pace is steady and so he should get back on.
Puncture for Dani Martinez. He gets help from a teammate and the team car and is chasing to get back on.
130km to go
Ineos are back on the front. They kicked off the earlier echelon attacks. Will they do it again?
Higuita has wisely moved up near the front and other riders are doing the same to be ready for other attacks when the race turns north and returns to exposed roads.
Meanwhile, Mathieu van der Poel is at the back chatting with Thomas De Gendt.
The peloton easing has allowed all the chasers to get back on. The echelon attacks have eased for now.
The speed is up to 55km/h and with the wind blowing, it is difficult for riders to stuff bidons down their jerseys to take up to their teammates.
It's 26C in the UAE and so after a fast opening 35km, several riders are dropping back to the team cars to take on bidons. They need to be quick before the winds return on the exposed desert roads.
🇦🇪 #UAETourthe main bunch regrouped after a furious start. pic.twitter.com/ep427HwsEiFebruary 21, 2021
Just a little under 150km to go and things calming down after the crosswind-enforced chaos of the start! Great racing for the spectator #UAETour pic.twitter.com/oVFT2eVRbbFebruary 21, 2021
Jumbo-Visma have moved up to the front with Kuss. He got out of jail due to a change in direction that slowed the echelons and allowed the chasers to close the gap.
And breath. The main chase group has caught the front group entering Zayed City.
However a few chasers are at over a minute. They face a hard chase in the cars and can only hope the stage clams down. If it doesn't they could lose a lot of time.
150km to go
The riders pass a sign saying: Fasten your seatbelts. After the high-speed echelon start, it's excellent advice.
The pace has eased at the front and so the chase groups desperately try to close the gap.
Valverde is in the chase group.
A slight change of direction means the wind is cross-tail. However when the race turns right in Zayed City, it will become a cross-head wind again.
Get ready for more echelons!
Upfront the Deceuninck, Ineos and Bahrain teams are setting a high pace to stop the chasers closing the gap.
Sergio Higuita of EF is also in the chase group and is suffering in the wind.
Much of the Movistar team is in the chase group, as is Sep Kuss of Jumbo-Visma.
Ineos sparked the first echelon and had Adam Yates in there. They have now been joined by the chase peloton but riders are being spat out the back and a group is at 45 seconds and losing further time.
Behind the chase peloton, other groups are scattered down the road in different echelons.
Echelons!
As the riders ride towards Zayed city, the win d is blowing from their right.
The front group lead by 10 seconds or so but are working well together.
We (just) said it was windy...We are less than a kilometer in the race and the first echelons have been formed in the #uaetour! 💨💨💨Once we know more about the compositions of the groups, we will let you know!#yallaisn pic.twitter.com/2SaCUkJd0WFebruary 21, 2021
170km
We have a front group of 15 or so riders.
The wind is blowing across the desert and is a cross wind on an opening section.
That has sparked attacks and echelons!
The opening stage is 176km long and starts in the desert before heading to the coast.
As the Cyclingnews virtual blimp takes height, the attacks in the crosswinds have already started.
Hello and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 1 of the UAE Tour.
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February 21, 2021 at 03:35PM
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UAE Tour stage 1 - Live coverage | Cyclingnews - Cyclingnews.com
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