Back to Ewan

The final stage of this year’s UAE Tour was the fiftieth King of the Sprint title race. Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step) went in as the reigning King, but was unable to retain his title. It was his King of the Sprint nemesis, Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal), who beat him to the line, and won his first title of 2021, his eleventh in total. Not since the fifth stage of the 2020 Tour de France has anyone but Ewan or Bennett held the title, by the way.

Where next? Ewan is set to ride Tirreno-Adriatico. He won’t meet Bennett there, but we might see some duels with the likes of Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix).

Two in a row

It was February 2020 when a rider – Fabio Jakobsen – could last retain his King of the Sprint title. After going back and forth a few times between Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal), it finally stayed with the same rider for more than one race: Bennett won stage 4 of the UAE Tour, and after that also stage 6, beating Elia Viviani (Cofidis) and Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hangrohe).

The seventh and final stage of this year’s UAE Tour, tomorrow, could also well end in a bunch sprint.

Back and forth

Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) and Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step) are the kings of the sprint, although it’s the Irishman who is currently King of the Sprint, with capital “K”. Together, Ewan and Bennett have won all five title races since stage 10 of the Tour de France. The former spent the winter months as King after he had taken a record tenth title at the Scheldeprijs in October, but it is the latter who is the first to win in the new season.

At the UAE Tour, the first stage didn’t end in a sprint because of the wind, but in the fourth stage all the main sprinters got a new chance. Bennett beat promising newcomer David Dekker (Team Jumbo-Visma) and … Ewan. On Friday, we might already see the next title race.

Not Viviani, but Bennett

Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) had already won the final stage of the Vuelta a San Juan this season, so in this seventh and final stage of the UAE Tour in Dubai, he was force to be reckoned with. Reigning Sprint King Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-Quick Step), on the other hand, still the only multiple titleholder, could win a record fourth title and be the one to take it to Europe later in March.

Viviani, however, started his sprint from too far back, and only got fifth. Bennett chose former King Fernando Gaviria’s wheel, and that was the right one. He overtook the Colombian sprinter in the final metres.

Bennett is due to race Paris-Nice next, so we will possibly see him defend his title already next Sunday.

Three out of six

Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-Quick Step) has ridden all six King of the Sprint title races so far, and he won three. Until the final metres of the fifth stage of the UAE Tour in Khor Fakkan, it looked like Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) was going to retain his title, but, ultimately, Viviani beat him. If the Italian also wins the last sprint stage in Dubai on Saturday, he will take a record fourth title to the first European title race.

Gaviria: first title race, first win

Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) had already won stages at the Argentinian Vuelta a San Juan in January, but he had yet to contest a King of the Sprint title race. The first four of those were ridden in Australia, and Elia Viviani (Deceunick-Quick Step) won twice. Viviani, then, was the outright favourite in the first sprint stage at the UAE Tour.

However, it was Gaviria who beat Viviani to the line at Abu Dhabi Big Flag, and ended the 29-day reign of the Italian.

We will possibly see the next title race on Friday, in Khor Fakkan.

Who’s next?

King of the Sprint Elia Viviani will finally be on another startlist next week. From Sunday 24 February onwards, he will take part in the inaugural UAE Tour. Stage 2, from Yas Island to Abu Dhabi Big Flag, is the first flat stage, so it’s possible that we will see a new (or the same) King crowned on Monday.

Viviani, as the reigning Sprint King and, arguably, the best sprinter of the moment, is the biggest favourite for that next title, but there is whole bunch of household sprint names on the list of participants. To name just a few: Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe), Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal), Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data), Marcel Kittel (Team Katusha-Alpecin) and Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) will certainly among those contesting the mass sprint in Abu Dhabi.

Stay tuned for the race report!