Kwiato climbs into top 10

01 Mar 2019

Kwiato climbs into top 10

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UAE Tour stage six: Ajman – Jebel Jais, 180km

Michal Kwiatkowski climbed into the overall top 10 at UAE Tour as the general classification contenders went toe to toe on Jebel Jais.
 
The final climb saw the lead group gradually thin out, with accelerations in the final kilometre seeing the Polish national champion finally distanced.
 
Crossing the line 16 seconds behind stage winner and race leader Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo-Visma), Kwiatkowski sits 10th overall, 1:49 back ahead of the race’s final day.
 
The Team Sky rider was joined by teammates Salvatore Puccio, Pavel Sivakov and Gianni Moscon on the final climb. Moscon held on for as long as he could in a valiant ride after going down hard in an earlier crash.
 
In the sprint for victory Roglic narrowly edged out Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) at the line, extending his race lead to 31 seconds in the process.
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Reaction

- Matteo Tosatto

"It was a long day but at a faster pace than yesterday. It was a nice stage. The final climb for the last 20 kilometres was not very steep but very fast with Jumbo-Visma pulling. 

"It was bad news to see Gianni go down in the crash. It made it really hard for him on the final climb. It's hard to have a good feeling after a crash like that. But Kwiato moved into the top-10 overall and there were some signs of progress today. He was much happier after the finish and confident ahead of the races to come.

"Unfortunately Kenny (Elissonde) didn't start today because he was ill. Salvatore Puccio, Pavel (Sivakov) and (Michal) Golas worked very well on the climb."
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What’s Next?
 
The race is set to conclude with a day for the sprinters on Dubai’s City Walk. The waterfront finish should provide another chance for Kristoffer Halvorsen after two top-10 finishes already this week.

Stage six result:

1. Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo-Visma) 4:15:29
2. Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) s.t.
3. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ)
4. Dan Martin (UAE-Team Emirates)
5. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)
14. Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) +16"

Overall standings:

1. Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo-Visma) 23:09:38
2. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +31"
3. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +44"
4. Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) +56"
5. Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) +1:04"
10. Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) +1:49"