Today’s 200-kilometre third stage of the Dubai Tour from Dubai to Al Aqah has been affected by strong crosswinds and a sand storm, resulting in the race temporarily splitting to pieces.
A number of teams have posted videos showing the extreme conditions that the riders have been facing. The crosswinds resulted in the race splitting into a number of different echelons with over 100 kilometres still to race.
Amongst those to make it into the front echelon were Mark Cavendish and a number of his Dimension Data team-mates while race leader Marcel Kittel (Quick Step Floors) and John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) were amongst those who initially missed out.
However, the race was subsequently neutralised for a time following a number of crashes and the peloton came back together.
The Bardiani-CSF team posted the following video on Twitter showing riders struggling to stay upright in the windy conditions.
#DubaiTour, difficile situazione di gara con forte vento e sabbia ovunque – le immagini dall’ammiraglia di @Robbybici pic.twitter.com/mhhId5W5fJ
— Bardiani – CSF (@Bardiani_CSF) 2 February 2017
Team Novo Nordisk posted the following video which shows riders trying to get some protection from the wind behind team cars.
The winds and sands aren’t letting up. Imagine racing through these conditions! No easy days when you are #changingdiabetes. #dubaitour pic.twitter.com/fceI5uqLx6
— Team Novo Nordisk (@teamnovonordisk) 2 February 2017
The Aqua Blue Sport team also posted the below video showing the conditions facing the soigneurs at the feed zone.
Sandstorm at the feed zone making soigneurs’ job even harder #DubaiTour pic.twitter.com/R7vsrjefIZ
— Aqua Blue Sport (@AquaBlueSport) 2 February 2017
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