MADINAT ZAYED, Abu Dhabi // When he could almost, but not quite, see the finish line at the end of a gruelling 159.5-kilometre stage, Rafaa Chtioui thought he could do it. The Tunisian thought he could register a remarkable stage win for Skydive Dubai, one of the two Emirati teams in the first Abu Dhabi Tour.
It was not to be, but other than Andrea Guardini’s win, the headline of the day was Skydive Dubai’s impressive showing.
“Maybe I would do it today,” Chtioui said. “I knew they would come in fast at the end, but I still gave it a try and thought today just might be the day. In the end, it was close.”
It was and that he did not succeed will not detract from the performance. Chtioui led the race for all but one of its last 40km. And before him, teammate Franciso Mancebo had either led, or been part of an early breakaway for nearly 120km.
The Spaniard is a stage race specialist of some pedigree. He was the Spanish champion in 2004 and finished sixth and fourth in the 2004 and 2005 Tour de France respectively. He has won a Vuelta a Espana stage too.
He broke away at 4km in a group of six and went solo in the lead after 100km. He built up a healthy lead as well of over two minutes on the peloton.
As they cut Mancebo’s lead, however, Chtioui sensed an opportunity and attacked, going past him with around 130km gone. “I just felt I could attack and thought if Mancebo could come with me, he could, if he couldn’t, I would go alone. I asked him if he could come but he said he couldn’t. ”
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