The surrounds of Jebel Hafeet were still as beautiful and dramatic as they were last year. Then, we had a finish to the most gruelling stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour to match it – a late, late slip by Team Sky’s Wouter Poels had undone the work of an astonishing late counter.
Poels fell, his misfortune swept up into the good fortune of Esteban Chaves who nipped past him for the stage and overall win.
The finish this year of the 150km-stage, which ends with the 11km climb up one of the UAE’s highest peaks, was not nearly as dramatic. But in the Estonian Tanel Kangert, of Team Astana, it did throw up an unexpected and unassuming victor.
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Until earlier this year Kangert had not won an individual stage since 2013, though he could at least claim some good form coming in to Abu Dhabi: He had won two stages at the Giro del Trentina in Italy in April.
In beating Nicholas Roche and Mekseb Debesay, Kangert has all but ensured the general classification win for himself, with only a sprint stage left at the Yas Marina Circuit on Sunday.
In the Astana set-up Kangert is hidden behind the presences of Fabio Aru (who is not here) and Vincenzo Nibali (who is). On most days in most races, Kangert’s role is to make sure he sets up one of the bigger names well enough for glory, spending a lot of time in the big races working for others.
On Saturday, he was given a rare chance to go for the glory himself and he did not disappoint.
“Well, I have to thank my team,” he said. “I really had the liberty to do what I wanted today. We had good cards to play with me and Vincenzo. The team really did a good job – it sounds like a cliché but today, really.
“I arrived quite fresh on the last climb. I knew I had a chance today. The team told me in the beginning I had to do the general classification here. I knew top-10 should be doable, that I would be lucky to be in the top-5, but to win is really special.”
Nibali, who finished sixth and is racing for the last time with Astana, had in fact told Kangert on Friday that it would be his time.
“He told me yesterday it is his turn to help me now. He did a good job behind me. Sometimes I have my own chance, but it doesn’t always work out. Two years ago, I had a chance to do general classification in the Vuelta [a Espana] but I didn’t have the legs.”
Until the final climb the stage had been much as expected. Early on the four-man breakaway of the Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet, Michael O’Loughlin, Marco Coledan and Evgeny Shalunov had built up a near-five minute lead on the peloton.
Team Sky, among others, started to cut into that lead and after 91km, with the lead at just over three minutes, the peloton had also broken up into four parts.
Eventually, with 30km to go, the chasing pack caught up with the breakaway. Van Avermaet still managed to push off, going into the steep climb as race leader, but he was quickly outflanked by Carlos Verona.
Verona built up a 30-second lead, but the chasers kicked into action. Roche was the first to go, though a group further down including Nibali and Alberto Contador began a push as well.
With six kilometres to go, Roche and Kangert caught up with Verona and broke on their own; Kangert broke away from Roche with three kilometres to go and the former could not keep up.
“I think he [Roche] was more tired than I was, and I was a little bit afraid of a headwind in the final but luckily the wind changed direction,” said Kangert.
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