Alexander Kristoff continued his strong start to life at UAE Team Emirates as he secured a 7th place finish during stage three of the Dubai Tour.

It was Kristoff’s third top-10 finish this week having finished 4th on stage one and 7th on stage two.

Mark Cavendish barreled over the finish in triumph following a 183km ride from Skydive Dubai to the port town of Fujairah.

It was a commendable performance nonetheless from Kristoff, who said: “Our lead-out train was perfect and we were at the front in the right moment, but we had no luck. We were boxed in to the left and couldn’t find any open road to accelerate.

“If we could have found some space, I feel I would have had a better chance of competing for the victory as my legs felt good today.”

Meanwhile, Yousif Mirza, who finished 17th, said: “Friday and Saturday could be interesting opportunities for joining breakaways, with the target of the intermediate sprint jersey.

“My direct opponents did not obtain points today, so the ranking is still very open and I’m sure tomorrow there will be battle in the early kilometres.”