Belgian Van Eetvelt Hits the Heights to Claim UAE Tour

UAE Tour winner Lennert Van Eetvelt only turned professional last year © Giuseppe CACACE / AFP
UAE Tour winner Lennert Van Eetvelt only turned professional last year © Giuseppe CACACE / AFP
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Belgian Van Eetvelt Hits the Heights to Claim UAE Tour

UAE Tour winner Lennert Van Eetvelt only turned professional last year © Giuseppe CACACE / AFP
UAE Tour winner Lennert Van Eetvelt only turned professional last year © Giuseppe CACACE / AFP

Belgium's Lennert Van Eetvelt produced a dramatic summit finish on Jebel Hafeet to claim the final stage and overall victory in the UAE Tour on Sunday.

The 22-year-old Lotto rider powered clear around two kilometres from the line to take the 161km seventh stage by 22 seconds from Pello Bilbao and Ben O'Connor, AFP reported.

With a 10 sec time bonus Van Eetvelt shot to the top of the overall standings, two seconds ahead of Australia's O'Connor, with Bilbao completing the podium.

O'Connor's compatriot, UAE Team Emirates' Jay Vine began the day in the lead but his hopes bit the dust in the closing climb.

"I was expecting a difficult stage," Van Eetvelt said, adding that he had been able to stay on the wheels of the leaders.

"Then when we began the climb I told myself I had to give my all.

"I couldn't be happier," beamed the rider who was adding this to a race win in Mallorca last month.

Van Eetvelt only turned professional last year, making his Grand Tour debut in the Vuelta a Espana where he came in 32nd overall.



‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
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‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)

The Paris Olympics look likely to get off to a soggy start.

Meteo-France, the French weather service, is predicting “flooding rains” Friday evening when the opening ceremony is set to unroll along the Seine River. But the show is set to go on as planned, starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT/7:30 p.m. CEST and should last more than three hours.

Already in the late afternoon, skies were gray with intermittent drizzle. There was a silver lining, though, with temperatures expected to stay relatively warm throughout the evening.

Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). Though 10,700 athletes are expected to compete at these Olympics, hundreds of soccer players are based outside Paris, surfers are in Tahiti and many have yet to arrive for their events in the second week, organizers said Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including 320,000 paying and invited ticket-holders, are expected to line the Seine’s banks as athletes are paraded along the river on boats.