Cycling: Abu Dhabi: Valverde wins final stage and round trip

Spanish cycling professional Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) secured the Abu Dhabi Tour’s overall victory with a success on the final leg. The 37-year-old, together with Colombia’s Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana), emerged from the final section of Al Ain/Qasr Al Muwaiji to Jebel Hafeet on the final ascent and won the direct duel after 199 km.

Valverde took the lead in the overall standings with a 17-second lead over Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) from the Netherlands. Emanuel Buchmann from Ravensburg came to a conclusion in 15th place. and finished the five-day round trip 1:37 minutes behind as the best German rider in tenth position. Valverde suffered a broken knee cap at Tour de France in 2017, but is now back in top form at almost 38.

On the third leg Phil Bauhaus (Sunweb), Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin) and Pascal Ackermann (Bora-hansgrohe) had secured a German triple victory. On the final day, Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) was part of a group of runaways for a long time, but was placed on the final climb like his companions.