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Andrea Guardini had such a stellar debut season as a pro cyclist in 2011 that it earned him comparisons with Mark Cavendish’s own debut year.
The Italian had a remarkable 11 UCI victories that year. When he actually beat Cavendish in a stage win at the Giro d’Italia the following year, the sprinter was on the cusp of being cycling’s new big thing.
Things have not quite worked out since then but as he beat out a high-class field in sweltering heat in the first stage of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Tour yesterday, he capped off a year which, in time to come, may be seen as the beginning of his return.
The win was his eighth this year and it arrived in bracing fashion.
As the peloton set itself up for a bunch finish, Guardini suddenly appeared from the outside, weaving his way through the other sprinters, including the world champion Peter Sagan, to take the win just ahead of Etixx-QuickStep’s Tom Boonen and Daniele Bennati of Tinkoff-Saxo.
Guardini is a dominant force at the Tour de Langkawi, with a staggering 18 stage wins, and a bit of a region specialist: he has over 20 stage wins in Asia. He knows this heat, even if he said later this was the hottest day he had raced on.
“It was special because I’ve raced in Malaysia and trained in heat, but today I feel really hot,” he said. “When I saw the other riders I kept in mind that I am suffering but the others are suffering more than me.”
Race organisers took a decision early in the stage, which began at Qasr Al Sarab amid the sand dunes of the Rab Al Khali, to cut the final 14.5km finishing loop from the stage, cutting the ride to 159.5km.
As a result of his win, Guardini now holds the red and green jerseys. What was especially pleasing for him was the surge past the newly crowned world champion, in a manner, he said, befitting of a world champion.
“The first hour was really slow because of the strong headwind. Coming into the final kilometre, there was confusion in the peloton,” he said. “The last curve was at 500m, and I went around it in third position. I knew that I was too near the front, so I held back. Luckily I was close to Bennati.
“When Peter kicked, he pulled Bennati with him at around the 250m mark. Peter sportingly left the corridor along the barriers open, and I came through.”
As an indicator of how much the win meant, he likened the feeling to his solitary Giro d’Italia stage win.
“I heard my name in commentary and it was really incredible, and I knew I could make a really powerful sprint. I took the left side and I go. When I crossed I remembered the stage win at Giro d’Italia.”
There was plenty of scope for local cheer as well.
Much of the stage was led by two riders from Skydive Dubai, the only pro cycling team in the UAE. Francisco Mancebo first formed part of a breakaway and then Raffa Chtioui led the race until the final kilometre at Madinat Zayed.
Songezo Jim won the white jersey, sponsored by The National, for the best young rider in the stage, and Paul Voss won the sprints classification.
The day, however, belonged to Guardini and why not? He later revealed he had been eyeing up this race on the calendar for some time.
“I like these places for sure. When I saw last year that we might be doing this race here, I was really interested in it,” he said.
“I know that here there is a lot of stage sprinting. I love coming to these places. For instance, I love Formula One and I’m really looking forward to the Yas Marina Circuit. It will be really spectacular to race there.”
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Abu Dhabi International Airport - 41°F
