UAE- Sonny steals the thunder on way to Hatta Dam

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Bahrain-Merida's Sonny Colbrelli unleashed a brutal assault at the fag end to clinch the gruelling Dubai Municipality Stage, the fourth Stage of the Dubai Tour on Friday.

The Italian swallowed breakaway rider Rally Cycling's Brendon McNulty, just 50 metres from the finish to take the spoils in the 172km Stage, the only climb Stage of the Tour.

It almost wouldn't have been as the brave rookie McNulty had put in a truly brilliant effort by staving off the challenge from the peleton to inch closer.

But the 19-year-old American couldn't hold out any longer as the 27-year-old Colbrelli muscled his way up the steep 200-metre climb at the Hatta Dam to tilt it in his favour.

The Paris-Nice Stage winner finished ahead of Astana Pro Team's Magnus Cort Nielsen and Team Lotto NL-Jumbo's Timo Roosen.

Colbrelli finished the Stage with a timing of three hours, 40 minutes and 50 seconds.

UAE Team Emirates' Alexander Kristoff just missed out on a podium finish but despite that, the Norwegian conjured another impressive showing on his debut with the team by finishing fourth.

It came on the back of a fourth and twin seventh place finishes.

Giacomo Nizzolo answered a late call from his team Trek-Segafredo by finishing fifth. Nizzolo's teammate John Degenkolb, winner of the Hatta Stage in 2015, was not feeling good five kilometres from the finish and the Italian had to step in for the German.

Ace sprinter Elia Viviani pulled on the leader's Blue Jersey yet again, with his sixth place finish enough for the Quick-Step Floors rider to retain his spot on top of the General Classification. He also holds the Red Jersey for Points Classification.

Team Dimension Data's Mark Cavendish, winner of the Dubai Silicon Oasis Stage, the third Stage, finished way down in 20th,while two-time Dubai Tour winner Marcel Kittel came in 22nd. Cavendish is 12th in the General Classification, while Kittel is further down in 17th.

McNulty was sandwiched between Cavendish and Kittel in 21st spot.

Viviani, winner of the Ras Al Khaimah Stage, has a small lead of two seconds over Nielsen and a first Dubai Tour title is his to lose, going into the Meraas Stage, the fifth and final Stage of the Tour.

The Rio Olympics champion also has a cushion of four seconds over Colbrelli and 14 seconds over eighth-placed Kristoff.

Hundred and six riders took the start at Skydive Dubai with the UAE National Team's Mohammed Al Mansoori, Jaber Al Mansoori and Almaurawwi Alblooshi not starting.

The Hatta Stage was cancelled last year due to blustery conditions and although there was wind this time too, they were not that strong enough.

And despite the wind and the hills, the riders showed blistering pace with the average speed being 46.732kmph, the fastest of the Tour so far.

Unlike the previous three flat Stages, where the breakaway riders were eaten up by the peleton, McNulty broke away alone after having a few other riders for company, with 25km left to run.

And with just 10km left, the former junior world champion had built up a one minute and 23 seconds cushion.

The peleton sliced into that lead with the gap down to one minute and three seconds with five kilometres left and just under a minute with four km to go.

But with two km left to the finish, McNulty still had a handy 42-second lead up the road and an unlikely victory looked likely. But the gap came down to 29 seconds after which he was finally caught out.

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