Tim Merlier underlined his status as the fastest man in the UAE Tour by winning his third sprint in the penultimate stage in the Middle East’s only WorldTour race on Saturday.
It could have been a clean sweep of the four sprints for the Soudal Quick-Step rider had he not been beaten by Visma Lease A Bike’s Olav Kooij in a photo finish in Stage 5 the other day.
Merlier stormed to the front from a difficult position to clinch Stage 6 from Arvid De Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), second and third respectively, to add to his victories in Stage 1 and Stage 4.
“Everything went perfect today with the team,” Merlier said at the finish of the 138-kilometre Abu Dhabi stage from Louvre to the Breakwater.
“We are where we want to be and I can go with my sprint where I want to go. Perfect week for us.”
Merlier appeared to be slightly boxed-in with around five riders still ahead of him with about 100 metres to the finishing line.
The Belgian had to launch his sprint early to move up, but once he reached full speed, he was unmatched, coming through a small gap on the right-hand side of the road to take his third victory of the tour.
“They brought me really good until about 1.5km to go, and then Bert [Van Lerberghe] wanted to go really early, but then he slowed down a bit and then it was all or nothing,” Merlier said.
“If you do that you can be boxed in, but it didn’t happen, and I went from a good spot. It’s a perfect week here. Yesterday was a close one, but it’s nicer to have a nice picture of it.”
The UAE Team Emirates’ Jay Vine finished safely in the bunch and will take the overall leaders' red jersey into the final stage and the summit finish on Jebel Hafeet on Sunday.
“I didn’t see any dangerous point today really. It reminded me of not so long ago when I was commuting by bike to go to work in Australia,” the Australian said at the post-race conference.
“You got that feeling of riding through red lights it was very cool to have a look at the buildings and stuff. Today was not super hard, but it’s going to be a big day tomorrow.
“I’ll have to consume about 4,000 calories, maybe a bit more, so I had to do fuelling today for tomorrow, on the bike, after race and this evening, just to keep my stomach okay.
“It shouldn’t be all up to us. We have some good riders. Mikkel (Bjerg-his teammate) is really strong. To have him as far as possible up the climb with us will be useful.
“It’s also probably going to be the hottest day of the week tomorrow. It’ll be about responding, not losing time. As long as I keep (another teammate Brandon) McNulty’s wheel in front of mine, it should be fine.”
Stage 6 results
1. Tim Merlier (BEL) Soudal Quick-Step, 3hrs 2min 14sec.
2. Arvid De Kleijn (NED) Tudor Pro Cycling Team, st.
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious, st.
General classification
1. Jay Vine (AUS) UAE Team Emirates
2. Ben O’Connor (AUS) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team, at 11sec.
3. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates, at 13sec.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Last 10 winners of African Footballer of the Year
2006: Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast)
2007: Frederic Kanoute (Sevilla and Mali)
2008: Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal and Togo)
2009: Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast)
2010: Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan and Cameroon)
2011: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2012: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2013: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2014: Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast)
2015: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund and Gabon)
2016: Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City and Algeria)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
South Africa 66 (Tries: De Allende, Nkosi, Reinach (3), Gelant, Steyn, Brits, Willemse; Cons: Jantjies 8)
Canada 7 (Tries: Heaton; Cons: Nelson)
More from Armen Sarkissian
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
More coverage from the Future Forum
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
SPECS
Nissan 370z Nismo
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 363hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh184,500
PSG's line up
GK: Alphonse Areola (youth academy)
Defence - RB: Dani Alves (free transfer); CB: Marquinhos (€31.4 million); CB: Thiago Silva (€42m); LB: Layvin Kurzawa (€23m)
Midfield - Angel di Maria (€47m); Adrien Rabiot (youth academy); Marco Verratti (€12m)
Forwards - Neymar (€222m); Edinson Cavani (€63m); Kylian Mbappe (initial: loan; to buy: €180m)
Total cost: €440.4m (€620.4m if Mbappe makes permanent move)
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20HyveGeo%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abdulaziz%20bin%20Redha%2C%20Dr%20Samsurin%20Welch%2C%20Eva%20Morales%20and%20Dr%20Harjit%20Singh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECambridge%20and%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESustainability%20%26amp%3B%20Environment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24200%2C000%20plus%20undisclosed%20grant%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVenture%20capital%20and%20government%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
The five pillars of Islam
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
