Wednesday 3 February 2016 12:39, UK
Marcel Kittel blew his rivals away to win the opening stage of the Dubai Tour as Mark Cavendish had to settle for a distant second place.
Kittel was given a textbook lead-out by his Etixx - Quick-Step team and then surged clear of the rest of the field with a devastating display of power in Fujairah.
Ten, six and four bonus seconds were awarded to the first three riders over the line, which sees Kittel opens up a four-second lead over Cavendish (Dimension Data) at the top of the general classification, with Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) two seconds further back in third.
Kittel said: "After a hard season last year, I am incredibly happy that I could win; even more that it worked so well with the new team.
"The boys did a really, really good job and I think everyone saw that we were the strongest there in the lead-out. It is important to stay calm for the next days and see what else can come."
Kittel endured a difficult 2015 season but moved from Giant-Alpecin to Etixx - Quick-Step over the winter and looked back to his best on his first outing for his new team.
The 27-year-old German added: "I've said this before, but for me this year, everything starts at zero. I was really focused on good training together with the guys, and making plans for 2016. I feel really good already so I am really happy that it worked so well today."
Cavendish, meanwhile, can be pleased with his performance after being the only rider to present any sort of challenge to Kittel, despite having spent all winter training on the track.
The Dubai Tour continues on Thursday with a flat, 188km second stage ending on the Palm Jumeirah. Follow the race with our day-by-day guide.
Stage one result
1 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Etixx - Quick-Step, 3:35:21
2 Mark Cavendish (GB) Dimension Data, same time
3 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, st
4 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida, st
5 Andrea Palini (Ita) Skydive Dubai, st
6 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana, st
7 Chris Opie (GB) ONE Pro Cycling, st
8 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky, st
9 Michael Kolar (Slo) Tinkoff, st
10 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltn) Al Nasr Pro Cycling, st
General classification
1 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Etixx - Quick-Step, 3:35:11
2 Mark Cavendish (GB) Dimension Data, +4secs
3 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, +6
4 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida, +10
5 Andrea Palini (Ita) Skydive Dubai, same time
6 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana, st
7 Chris Opie (GB) ONE Pro Cycling, st
8 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky, st
9 Michael Kolar (Slo) Tinkoff, st
10 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltn) Al Nasr Pro Cycling, st
