Chris Froome loses time as Caleb Ewan takes the lead in UAE Tour
- Published
Chris Froome has returned to racing for the first time since breaking his leg at the Criterium du Dauphine last June
Australia's Caleb Ewan moved into the overall lead of the UAE Tour with victory on stage two - but Britain's Chris Froome lost time.
The four-time Tour de France champion was dropped by the peloton in the final 8km and crawled in 111th - three minutes and 46 seconds off the pace.
Ewan won the hilly 167km stage after edging Ireland's Sam Bennett in a sprint to the top of Hatta Dam.
He takes over the race lead from Pascal Ackermann, who was dropped with Froome.
French Groupama-FDJ rider Arnaud Demare came third to move into third overall in the general classification.
Britain's Adam Yates finished the stage in eighth, four seconds off the pace, while Mark Cavendish was 124th, seven minutes and five seconds behind.
Ewan, who rides for Belgian team Lotto-Soudal, also won the stage to Hatta Dam in last year's UAE Tour.
"I was happy with that win - it's a really tough finish and we thought today would be harder than last year," he said.
"The profile looked hard and because there was no wind it was straightforward. My team did a great job to drop me off in that final corner."
Tuesday's stage three is 184km from Al Qudra Cycle Track near Dubai to Jebel Hafeet in Al Ain. The seven-stage race finishes on 29 February.
UAE Tour - Stage 2 result
1. Caleb Ewan (Aus/Lotto-Soudal) 4hrs 18mins 16 secs
2. Sam Bennett (Ire/Deceuninck-Quickstep) +2 secs
3. Arnaud Demare (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +4 secs
4. Diego Ulissi (Ita/UAE Team Emirates) same time
5. Rick Zabel (Ger/Israel Start-Up Natio) same time
6. Andrea Vendrame (Ita/AG2R La Mondiale) same time
7. Luka Mezgec (Slo/Mitchelton Scott) same time
8. Adam Yates (GB/Mitchelton Scott) same time
9. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) same time
10. David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama - FDJ) same time
Overall standings after stage 2
1. Caleb Ewan (Aus/Lotto Soudal) 7hrs 47mins 19secs
2. Sam Bennett (Ire/Deceuninck-Quick-Step) +12 secs
3. Arnaud Demare (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +16 secs
4. Nikolay Cherkasov (Rus/Gazprom-RusVelo) +17 secs
5. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz/Astana Pro Team) +19 secs
6. Luka Mezgec (Slo/Mitchelton-Scott) +20 secs
7. Andrea Vendrame (Ita/AG2R La Mondiale) same time
8. Rick Zabel (Ger/Israel Start-Up Nation) same time
9. Wilco Kelderman (Ned/Team Sunweb) same time
10. David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama - FDJ) same time