Mathias Vacek, right, was ecstatic after taking a shock victory in stage six of the UAE Tour ©Getty Images

Mathias Vacek won stage six of the UAE Tour after leading a six-man breakaway before unleashing a powerful sprint to cross the line in 3hr 58min 10sec.

The 19-year-old Czech was one of three Gazprom-RusVelo riders in the breakaway and managed to edge France's Paul Lapeira of AG2R Citroën Team while his team mate Dmitry Strakhov of Russia rounded out the podium.

Yesterday's winner Jasper Philipsen of Belgium remains in control of the points classification after winning the bunch sprint to finish in sixth.

The Alpecin-Fenix man finished 15 seconds behind Vacek with general classification leader Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia nestled safely in the group to defend his overall lead before tomorrow's decisive stage.

"I still can’t believe it, it’s amazing," said Vacek.

"I'm still really young, 19-years-old, and this victory means so so much for me.

"So, I still can’t believe it!

"I thought today I will try to get into the breakaway and see how it goes.

"I just wanted to have the black jersey [for the sprinters classification] for Strakhov.

"At 100 kilometres we only have one minute but we pushed really hard.

"And in the end, I won the sprint.

Mathias Vacek crossed the line in a time of 3hr 58min 10sec to record the first senior win of his career ©Getty Images
Mathias Vacek crossed the line in a time of 3hr 58min 10sec to record the first senior win of his career ©Getty Images

"Unbelievable!

"At 10km from the finish we still had 1:15, so at that moment I was focused 100 per cent on the sprint and to take the stage win."

The sprinters' teams will be disappointed not to capitalise on a near perfect route for the style.

Winding around the suburbs and skyscrapers of Dubai for 180km, the course featured no climbs and no cross winds.

The Tour reaches its finale tomorrow with riders set to embark on a brutal 148km climbing stage from Al Jahili Fort to Jebel Hafeet.

Tomorrow also sees the Omloop Het one-day race in Belgium.

It forms part of a two-race weekend with Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne taking place the following day.

The pair make up the opening weekend for the Classics season.

The men's Omloop Het route covers more than 200km while the women's event is on a 120km course.

The men will face seven cobbled sectors and 13 climbs, including the infamous Muur van Geraardsbergen climb to kick off the Northern European season in style.

Meanwhile, the women will attack nine climbs and seven cobbled sectors.

Jumbo-Visma powerhouse Wout van Aert of Belgium and Dutchwoman Marianne Vos are two of the favourites in the men's and women's events, respectively.