UAE Tour 2024 – Stage 5 Preview

I can’t predict a flat stage at the moment it seems.

Route

Two roundabouts but nothing fancy.

Weather

Another day with no echelons. A crosswind sprint.

Contenders

Merlier – damn good to win two out of two in this field. They timed it just right, it seems every team still has some work to do after the transfers. It is a simple finale tomorrow, but he has shown he excels in this chaos. He starts as the favorite.

Kooij – poor support today and had to open up early. He knows how to get into the right position, he just doesn’t have the speed to win it seems.

Welsford – caught behind a crash with 2800m left, no way back from this. They will hope for revenge tomorrow.

De Klejn – he is quick. He has the top speed to contest for a win like this, which mainly has to do with top speed.

Jakobsen – second time he is out of position. The team around him isn’t good enough to compete here. They have work to do.

Mareczko – always seem to go well when the stages are extremely flat. A top-5 is possible.

Who will win?

Merlier.