Dubai Tour Colbrelli takes victory at Hatta Dam

Dubai : Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) came out on top in a nail-biting finish to win stage 4 of the Dubai Tour atop Hatta Dam. The Italian used his team perfectly before sprinting to the top of the climb ahead of Magnus Cort (Astana) and Timo Roosen (LottoNL-Jumbo).

The finish saw the peloton overhaul lone leader Brandon McNulty (Rally Cycling) with just a few hundred meters to go. The 19-year-old was the last man standing from the day’s break and looked to be heading for an incredible victory before he finally cracked on the climb to the line. The American lost almost 45 seconds on the last incline, with Colbrelli taking his first win of the season. 

Overnight leader Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) finished with the main field and retained his lead with one stage remaining. Cort sits second overall at two seconds, with Colbrelli up to third, four seconds down on Viviani’s lead.

“I think it is not the finish,” Viviani said at the line. “I only have two seconds on Cort Nielson, and you’ve seen how strong he is. I think that it is going to be an interesting day tomorrow. We have a strong team, we saw today with what Niki [Terpstra] and Lampy [Yves Lampaert] did in the last bit to close the breakaway. I’m happy with the result because the goal was to defend the jersey and be there.

“I can’t do more than this. I can’t really stay with Colbrelli,” Viviani said. “When he went, I felt the legs get tight and I just tried to arrive and not give a gap in the middle of the riders. Cort Nielson is really close but we have the guys to control. The good thing is that Cav and Kittel are not really close. We can control it tomorrow. I think I have the team to do that and I just have to do my best sprint. It is another chance to win a stage.”

After three sprint finishes, Rally Cycling took the race by the scruff of the neck and almost stunned the WorldTour teams. They sent two riders up the road in the early break, with time trial talent McNulty joined by teammate Robin Carpenter, Conor Dunne (Aqua Blue Sport), Christopher Williams (Novo Nordisk), Sun Xiaolong (Mitchelton-BikeExchange) and Simone Bevilacqua (Willier-Triestina).