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Dubai - Germany's Marcel Kittel won the Tour of Dubai on Saturday after he outsprinted his rivals, claiming victory in the final fourth stage of the race.
He replaced Italy's Giacomo Nizzolo, who had seized the overall leader's blue jersey on Friday but had to settle for sixth place in Saturday's race.
Nizzolo took second place in the overall standings, four seconds behind Kittel.
"I'm really, really happy. I was dreaming about this moment," Kittel said.
"My team was fantastic all day and we did an incredible job to beat all the other teams, staying calm and attacking at the right moment."
"There wasn't any major tactic to stop Nizzolo - we just said it's all or nothing and fully concentrated on the final sprint," he said.
The German who rides for Etixx-QuickStep and had already won the first stage of the Dubai Tour, outpaced Italy's Elia Viviani, who came second, in Saturday's 132km city-based course that ended under the world's tallest building - Burj Khalifa.
"My confidence is a thousand times higher than one year ago... This win in Dubai is a perfect base to start the season," said Kittel.
Last year's winner, Britain's Mark Cavendish came third in the final stage but is way behind in the overall standings.
Spanish sprinter Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle who won the key stage three of the Dubai Tour on Friday ended in third place, six seconds behind Kittel.
Results of the 137km fourth and last stage of the Tour of Dubai on Saturday:
1. Marcel Kittel (GER/ETI) 132 km in 02hr 50min 47sec, 2. Elia Viviani (ITA/SKY) same time, 3. Mark Cavendish (GBR/DDD) s.t. 4. Andrea Palini (ITA/SKD) s.t. 5. Sacha Modolo (ITA/LAM) s.t.
Overall
1. Marcel Kittel (GER/ETI) 14hr 46min 54sec, 2. Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA/TRE) at 4sec, 3. Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (ESP/MOV) 6, 4. Silvan Dillier (SUI/BMC) 16, 5. Gorka Izaguirre (ESP/MOV) 23.
