Dylan Groenewegen won the opening stage of the Dubai Tour on Tuesday.

The Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider finished the stage, which ran from Skyline Dubai to Palm Jumeirah, four minutes ahead of Magnus Court Nielsen of Team Astana.

Groenewegen is thus the first recipient of the Dubai Tour’s blue jersey, given to the general classification leader, as well as the points leader’s red jersey and the white jersey given to the best young rider.

“It’s great to win here because there are a lot of good sprinters,” Groenwegen said.

“I came close every day last year but I didn’t win. I came second twice and I’m glad to start this new season on the right foot, thanks to the good job by my team.

“Quick-Step made it a very hard sprint by setting a high speed from far out but I launched my sprint with 200m to go.

“It was very tight at the end but went in my favour. It feels good to win my first stage this year, especially with the high level of sprinters who are here.”