The Belgian cyclist Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) won today the first stage of the Tour of the United Arab Emirates, in a sprint that was decided by a ‘photo finish’ with a millimeter difference to the second, the Australian Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny).
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The 30-years-old, completed the 151 kilometers between the castle of Al Dhafra and Al Mirfa in 3:17.35 hours, beating the Australian and the British Mark Cavendish (Astana), third.
The decision waited for many minutes to be announced, with the technicians analyzing the ‘photo finish’ while the two cyclists waited, with very little to differentiate the sprint of the two sprinters.
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Among the sprinters, Tim Merlier has the first clash of giants against Sam Bennett (Bora), Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto). For Astana, we will see the relationship grow between Cees Bol and Mark Cavendish in this new phase of the team.
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