The opening day of racing at the UAE Tour saw an expected sprint finale come to fruition where the team rode well as a unit, setting up Rachele Barbieri who sprinted to a good second place finish.
Rolling out of the start from the Dubai Miracle Garden, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL began the race without fast-finisher Charlotte Kool who unfortunately couldn’t make the trip to the UAE due to sickness. Nonetheless, the team were excited to get racing and show their colours at the front of the bunch, with last lead-out Barbieri stepping in as sprint finisher. From the start the team were attentive for any potential echelon action but despite some gusting winds, nothing ever materialised and the peloton stayed together. There were attacks throughout the afternoon but the breakaway attempts were only ever given around one minute at most.
Coming into the final ten kilometres there was a crash in the bunch which unfortunately saw Elise Uijen involved, but she was able to get back on her bike and return to the bunch. With the finish fast approaching the team moved up well together, with Becky Storrie and Uijen doing some early work before Daniek Hengeveld took over. With the final positioning done by Hengeveld, Pfeiffer Georgi used her experience and tactical nous to keep Barbieri towards but not directly on the front before peeling off. Barbieri then found herself in stage-winner Wiebes’ wheel and after opening up her effort early, going long, she held on for a strong second place at the line.