UAE Tour: Jonathan Milan doubles up in scrappy sprint finish on stage 5

Lidl-Trek and Jonathan Milan went back to back on stage 5 of the UAE Tour, with the Italian powerfully sprinting to another victory in Dubai.

It was a slightly more technical finish on Friday with two big turns in the final 1,500m, but Lidl-Trek navigated the fierce fight for position to deliver Milan to the perfect point on the finishing straight.

He opened up early and had to push on for a long time to the line, but in front proved the best place to be and he was easily able to hold off Erlend Blikra (Uno-X Mobility) in second and Matteo Malucelli (XDS Astana) in third.

Red jersey Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) finished in the bunch and will continue to lead the race ahead of Jebel Hafeet on Saturday.

The twisty finish in Dubai did look like it could be a catalyst for crashes, but in the end only one rider went down on the final corner: Milan’s brother and fellow sprinter Matteo Milan (Groupama-FDJ United), who had finished third on stage 4.

“Last year here I finished second or third, and I think I knew how it important it was to come to the second-to-last corner in the first position, but also to be not too much in the front because from the last corner it’s pretty far to the finish line,” Milan explained.

“It was really well controlled by my teammates for all the stage, and then in the final it was a bit difficult to stay together, they all gave me a big hand and a big support, and in the end they positioned me well. I found a nice way to sprint and I’m super happy for this result.”

After two sprint days, it will be back to the climbers on Saturday with a decisive GC stage finishing atop Jebel Hafeet, where Tiberi will try to defend his race lead against main challenger Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).

Stage 5 from Dubai Al Mamzar Park to Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University was completely pan-flat, and so it was hard for the breakaway to get away at first, taking the group some time to form. Eventually, though, three riders emerged in the lead: Gianni Moscon (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Nickolas Zukowsky (Pinarello-Q36.5) and Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Premier Tech), looking to extend his lead in the intermediate sprint jersey.

Diller dutifully won both sprints, but the peloton were keeping the break close, not letting the gap go much above 1:30 for the first 90km of racing – seemingly wanting to avoid the situation from stage 4 where the break almost survived for the win, but in the end it was another fairly late catch.

The run towards the finish in Dubai was mercifully uneventful, despite the possibility for crosswinds, with teams like Lidl-Trek doing the bulk of the chasing to steadily close the gap, which was just over a minute with 30km to go.

The super wide roads made for a tense fight for position, with several teams spreading across the road, with a technical finish and some key corners fast approaching. The peloton had the break in their sights from at least 15km to go, but it took some time to actually make the catch.

Zukowsky attempted to push on alone with 5.5km to go, but didn’t really get anywhere, and as soon as the rhythm in the break was disrupted, their days were numbered and all three were swept up with 3km to go.

This opened up the early sprint lead-out, with the peloton briefly splitting in two across the road as the sprint trains raced towards the technical finish. Hitting the first of two turns, Lidl-Trek and Ineos Grenadiers were best positioned although the trains were slightly messy, and from there it was a bit of a scramble to get to the next corner.

On the finishing straight, Milan and his distinctive style emerged in front fairly early, and it looked briefly as if he could be passed by his competitors, but his strength won out and he held on to the line, with the rest of the bunch settling for minor places in his wake.

With his win, Milan moves into the points jersey previously worn by Del Toro, but eyes will be on the red jersey from tomorrow morning, with Tiberi only 21 seconds clear of Del Toro with the long climb of Jebel Hafeet looming.