The penultimate day of racing at UAE Tour saw a fairly straightforward day in the saddle with a bunch sprint all but ensured at Abu Dhabi Breakwater. A five rider break went clear but they were only ever allowed a small advantage of two minutes at most. With all Team dsm-firmenich PostNL riders in the bunch, their focus was on staying safe and conserving energy for the finale. Coming up to the front in the closing five kilometres once the break was caught, the team positioned finisher Fabio Jakobsen towards the fore. In a good position with the finish line gantry in sight, Jakobsen was just about to open up his effort but got squeezed between two riders and had to check himself, and in the process dropped his chain, unfortunately meaning he couldn’t compete for a result come the line.
Speaking after the finish Jakobsen expressed: “It was the last sprint chance here for us. The team did a good job and we were all together until three kilometres to go. I had a good position under the final kilometre and was in the first five or ten to compete for the win. Unfortunately, I got blocked and had a mechanical problem with the chain which meant I couldn’t sprint in the end. Tomorrow we’ll go all out for Max and stay positive.”