DUBAI // Elia Viviani stood atop the podium and looked to the Sky. The Italian, having just won Stage 2 of the Dubai Tour to claim his first win for his new team, gazed out from the front lawn of Atlantis The Palm and locked eyes with his Team Sky support. Their trust is being repaid.
Viviani, 25, signed for the British team from Cannondale over the winter and had finished second at his debut race in Mallorca before following it up with third place in Wednesday’s opening stage in Dubai.
On Thursday though, he finally got to experience the top step with his new employers.
He had remained close to the front of the field throughout a 187-kilometre stage that took riders from Dubai International Marine Club to the tip of Palm Jumeirah. When Rafaa Chtioui of SkyDive Dubai Team was passed with 9km remaining, Viviani sprinted ahead with 150 metres remaining and held off a late charge from Mark Cavendish to cross the line first.
The winner’s time of four hours, 29 minutes and 59 seconds means he trails Cavendish in the general classification chase for the blue jersey by just two seconds at the midway point.
“I feel really good and this continues my great start to the new season,” he said. “After Mallorca and third place here, we wanted the victory and this is for the team in the sense that after Cannondale closed down, Sky had faith in me and trusted my results.
“You could see it in the teamwork that we’ve put into the first sprints. I’ve been in three sprints now and in all three I’ve been in a position to challenge for victory.
“I had been on the podium twice already and today I won, so it’s a great start and great to repay their faith in me. If, in the past, I’ve been in a position to win in three sprints out of 10, now I can try to win nine out of 10. That’s the big difference.”
Viviani, a professional for five years, has won 31 races but has yet to leave his mark on the classics: the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Espana. He hopes that with the support of Team Sky, this season could be when things begin to change.
“I have always been up there and showed myself in the classics, but I want a really big win,” he said. “At the Giro I have come close so this year I would like to go up to a new level. With a new team, a new reality and new motivations – and of course the help of my team – I hope this is the one.”
Cavendish, the Etixx Quick-Step rider who won the opening stage ahead of Astana’s Andrea Guardini, clearly believes it could be. The Briton praised Viviani last night, saying that Viviani gives him more cause for concern than Guardini, despite the latter having won a stage of the Giro.
“I’ve been beaten by Viviani on a couple of occasions and Guardini once,” Cavendish said. “Guardini is fast, but I’m not that scared of him. Viviani I know from his track background, he moves well, sprints well and can climb good. He’s more a guy who is going to win the bigger races.”
Today’s third stage takes the field from DIMC into Hatta, in the Hajar Mountains, where the likes of Guardini’s Astana teammate Vincenzo Nibali is more likely to feature at the front of the field. With larger gaps between riders, today’s stage could prove crucial in the race for the blue jersey.
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
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