UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Covi wins opening stage of Giro d'Abruzzo

UAE Team Emirates-XRG rode the opening stage of the Giro d'Abruzzo to perfection, seizing a vice-like grip of the day and teeing up Alessandro Covi to take the stage I victory.

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In doing so, the man known as II Puma di Taino - the Puma of Taino - claimed his first victory in three years, marking a brilliant afternoon of racing for the Emirati squad in Italy.

Before the day's finale, a breakaway went up the road and contested the day's secondary prizes, but was not allowed of the leash by a peloton that was largely led by UAE Team Emirates-XRG. With a little over 30km to ride, the race was brought together as one under the impetus of Enea Sambinello and Ivo Oliveira, both of whom traded strong turns at the head of the peloton.

With the breakaway mopped up, there was a moment for opportunists to seek their fortune off the front. Among those who quickly went on the attack were Damien Howson, Harm Vanhoucke (both Q36.5 Pro Cycling) and Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty), but it was the Emirati squad who remained in control by tracking the move through Oliveira.