Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) took the win on today’s final stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour to Jebel Hafeet and in doing so, also won the race overall. The Spaniard won just ahead of Miguel Ángel López (Astana Pro Team) with previous race leader Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing Team) slipping out of contention on the final climbs.

It was another big result for Valverde following his return from injury, having previously taken a podium finish in Mallorca, dominating the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and finishing second in Murcia

Valverde was well supported by his team through the stage and he reduced the size of the lead group with a move halfway up the climb with 6kms to go and later on followed a counter move by Miguel Ángel López. Valverde managed to outsprint his Colombian rival to take his career total victories to 113.

Alejandro Valverde: I’m super happy with this victory. Before anything, I just want to thank the whole team for their phenomenal work all week, keeping me well protected leading up to the weekend and today’s climb, so I just had to push when it was needed. We were able to get through Saturday’s time trial in a good position and it was all about going for the win today.

“This stage was one to keep extreme attention at, on difficult terrain because of the strong winds and that bit of rain which made roads more slippery. Astana did not hesitate to help López out after showing great form in Oman – we knew he was going to be a big contender and it was even more obvious after they started pushing from so far from the end. Midway through the ascent I chose to try and go alone, but I was caught, and later on he tried to make his move – in that situation and considering the rivals we were facing, it was all about finding the spot from which we could go all in, try to bring him back and do our best to win the stage.

“It’s our first WorldTour victory of the season, which makes it all the more important against the top guns. This month of February will be really important for our confidence in the remainder of the season. It really helps us work harder for the big races to come. My next competitions? I still don’t know where I’ll be next – it should be the Volta a Catalunya, but we might add another race before that, like Strade Bianche. We must wait a bit and define that in the next few days.”

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