Philipsen wins opening stage of UAE Tour

Belgium's Jasper Philipsen won the opening stage of the UAE Tour at Madinat Zayed on Sunday.

The Alpecin-Fenix rider edged out Bora-Hansgrohe’s Sam Bennett and Elia Viviani of Ineos Grenadiers to take the 184 km sprint stage.

Philipsen claimed three of the four distinctive race jerseys: GC, points and best young rider, while breakaway rider Dmitrii Strakhov of Gazprom–RusVelo took the Black Jersey of the intermediate sprints.

The second stage (176 km), on Monday, starts from Hudayriyat Island and ends at Abu Dhabi Breakwater.

Stage winner @JasperPhilipsen takes the Red, Green and White Jerseys, with Dmitrii Strakhov bagging the Intermediate Sprint Black Jersey! pic.twitter.com/3MQ5v0XRTU

— UAE Tour Official (@uae_tour) February 20, 2022