Immediately after the start in Al Dhafra Castle, the race exploded. There was a warning about echelons on the flat Abu Dhabi course. The Dutch team was alert when the peloton broke up after a few kilometres. "We knew where it would happen. We ended up with four riders. Unfortunately, Sepp crashed, and Lennard was held up as a result”, Maarten Wynants said.

On Monday afternoon, the sports director was pleased with his team's progress in recent months. "We have been working hard to prepare the riders for the stages. Especially for Tom this was new. Today he showed that he could do it."

Twenty kilometres from the finish, the lead group split in two. Kooij jumped with them but was disappointed to see that his other teammates were just too late to make it across. "At that point, we knew there could be another breakaway. With Michel and Tosh, we just missed it. Luckily Olav was there, and he could sprint for the stage win”, Wynants said. The 21-year-old rider was caught in the sprint and settled for fourth place.

There will be more opportunities for the top sprinters later this week. "They're predicting a bit less wind for the next few days. Hopefully, we will get some real bunch sprints. A sprint with a thin bunch is always different”, said the sports director.

Tomorrow's race features a seventeen-kilometre team time trial. The last team time trial at the UAE Tour was held in 2019. It was won by Team Jumbo-Visma. Wynants and his men were able to prepare well for this weekend's team time trial. "Yesterday, we were able to train in formation for the time trial, and we focused on technique. There are a lot of roundabouts in the course, and we tried to simulate them. The riders can surprise us again tomorrow. We are going for the best possible result.”