Sunday's opening stage of the UAE Tour in Madinat Zayed featured the biggest sprint duel of the still young season, with Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin Phoenix) taking an early victory from a star-studded field.

Even with Caleb Yuan and Fernando Gaviria missing the race, he had to pass Mark Cavendish, Pascal Ackermann, Dylan Groenewegen, Elia Viviani, Arnaud Demare, and Sam Bennett.

Bennett, a native of Ireland, made his second debut at Beulah Hansgrohe, finishing second and beating out Viviani for the title of "Best of the Rest."

After the stage, Bennett said that although his first day back in the race with the German team was not a victory, he and his team were happy with the day's results.

"I didn't have such high expectations today because I'm still not at 100%," he said. Our goal was to practice lead-outs and learn how to run together."

Beulah Hansgrohe was slow to move to the front of the peloton. The team stayed behind the peloton until the last 10 km and only moved up to the front when the riders charged under the flamme rouge.

"We took a little risk and started the leaders late," Bennett said. 'But in the end it worked out really well. Everyone did a great job in a stressful situation, and of course this performance gave us a lot of confidence."

"I think our performance will only get better from here. I am really happy with today's result. Thanks again to the team for doing a great job and for having faith in me."

Bennett still has a chance to grab the top step of the podium throughout the week-long tour of the UAE. 31-year-old Bennett has won three times in this race, including two stages last year, and team Director Rolf Aldag said the fight for victory will begin again on Monday's second stage.

"We had extreme wind conditions today, with a headwind on the outward leg and a tailwind on the return leg, and not much crosswind.

"As a rule, I would aim for a sprint with Sam, and then go for the finale a little later. Of course, that involves some risk, but in the end it worked out well."

"I am really happy with this result and we can build on this performance today. Tomorrow is another sprint stage and I will try again to get a result there."