Germany's Marcel Kittel won the Tour of Dubai Saturday after he outsprinted his rivals, claiming victory in the final fourth stage of the race. He replaced Italy's Giacomo Nizzolo, who had seized the overall leader's blue jersey on Friday but had to settle for sixth place in Saturday's race. Nizzolo took second place in the overall standings, four seconds behind Kittel. "I'm really, really happy. I was dreaming about this moment," Kittel said. "My team was fantastic all day and we did an incredible job to beat all the other teams, staying calm and attacking at the right moment." "There wasn't any major tactic to stop Nizzolo — we just said it's all or nothing and fully concentrated on the final sprint," he said. The German who rides for Etixx-QuickStep and had aready won the first stage of the Dubai Tour, outpaced Italy's Elia Viviani, who came second, in Saturday's 132 km city-based course that ended under the world's tallest building ‚ Burj Khalifa. "My confidence is a thousand times higher than one year ago... This win in Dubai is a perfect base to start the season," said Kittel. Last year's winner, Britain's Mark Cavendish came third in the final stage but is way behind in the overall standings. Spanish sprinter Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle who won the key stage three of the Dubai Tour Friday ended in third place, six seconds behind Kittel. Murphy wins stage 3 American cyclist John Murphy won the third stage of Australia's Herald Sun Tour in a photo finish Saturday, but Britain's Peter Kennaugh maintained his overall lead ahead of the final ride. Murphy (United HealthCare) closed out the stage which ended in a sprint after a straightforward race, just pipping Italian Niccolo Bonifazio (Trek-Segafredo). Olympic gold-medalist Kennaugh maintained his lead in the overall standings, 13 seconds ahead of Sky teammate and two-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome. A group of five riders had broken away early and led for most of the race Saturday, only to be reeled in with less than 10 kilometers to go. Saturday's stage was earmarked for sprinters with rising star Caleb Ewan seen as the rider to beat. He finished sixth behind fellow Australians Steele Von Hoff (ONE), Jesse Kerrison (State of Matter/MAPP) and Anthony Giacoppo (AUS/Avanti IsoWhey Sport). In the overall standings, Australia's Jack Bobridge (Trek-Segafredo) is in third position followed by compatriot Jack Haig (Orica-GreenEDGE) and New Zealander Dion Smith (ONE). Groenewegen edges Bouhanni Dutch Lotto rider Dylan Groenewegen edged out Nacer Bouhanni and Alexander Porsev to clinch victory in the third stage of the five-day Tour of Valencia Friday. Frenchman Bouhanni and his Cofidis team seemed to have had the sprint sown up during the lead in but Groenewegen surged past him late on to win his third career race. While Sky's Wouters Poels retains the overall lead from Luis Leon Sanchez and Astana's Diego Rosa by 15 and 22sec respectively, Saturday's stage features a category 1 climb to a summit finish which promises to be conclusive. — Agencies
