LIVE: Five-member refugee team with Xandres Vervloesem has a 4-minute lead in the UAE Tour | A tour of the Emirates 2022

We are just getting started and can already score our first hack.

Picked about 5 Herpath riders. Xandres Vervloesem (Lottou-Soudal) is Belgian.

The five-point lead increases rapidly to 3 minutes.

Phase one begins at 9:15 a.m., 12:15 p.m. local time. Riders are given a flat ride, which is an immediate opportunity for runners. It is expected to be completed after 184 kilometers around 1.15 pm.

Primus Roglic, the 2019 overall winner, is not among them. Tadej Pogacar will have to take into account in particular Adam Yates, the final winner in 2020 and second last year, more than half a minute after the Slovenian. Furthermore, the hunt for Jai Hindley, new to Bora-hansgrohe and after the horror season in 2021, is undoubtedly up for revenge. His teammate Alexander Vlasov is also a strong opponent.

Bahrain-Victorious Gino Maider and Bello Bilbao top the list of candidates. Fausto Masnada, second in the Tour of Oman, is the alternate captain of Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl. Waiting is also what Tom Dumoulin has encountered in his career after training in the Highlands in Columbia. And what can Jean Hurt do after his recent victory in Oman?

There aren’t many Belgians on the starting list: only 7. Lotto sends out 4 riders, including Xandres Vervloesem. Stijn Steels and Stan Van Tricht are part of the Patrick Lefevere Blue Guard. Tom Devriendt and Gerben Thijssen for Intermarché-Wanty Gobert and Jasper Philipsen and Gianni Vermeersch are shortlisted for Alpecin-Fenix.