Stage 3 of the UAE Tour brings the peloton from Strata Manufacturing in Al Ain to the UAE Tour’s first summit finish atop Jebel Hafeet.
The final haul to Jebel Hafeet, 10.8km in length with an average gradient of 5.4%, will provoke some further changes to the general classification, where Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) wears the red jersey. Before that sting in the tail, the peloton track an entirely flat route on the 166km stage.
-150km
General classification after stage 2
Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates squad have moved towards the head of the peloton but the pace is still gentle in these opening kilometres and the break's lead is now 3:35.
-145km
Filippo Ganna (Ineos) was, unsurprisingly, a clear winner in yesterday's short time trial, but behind the world champion, the general classification picture was adjusted further after the echelons on the opening day had already eliminated all bar 20 or so riders from the reckoning. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) enjoyed a solid outing, but Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep) is just 5 seconds back, while defending champion Adam Yates (Ineos) lies 5th at 39 seconds.
-136km
Mathieu van der Poel and his Alpecin-Fenix squad withdrew from the UAE Tour before yesterday's time trial due to a confirmed COVID-19 case among their staff. Wielerflits reports that Van der Poel has already been given clearance to return to the Netherlands after returning two negative PCR tests, and he is now eyeing participation in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday. Flanders Classics CEO Thomas Van Den Spiegel, needless to say, was receptive to the idea: "Although we are not a party in the discussion it is our belief that, if he is compliant with both UCI and our federations protocol, [Van der Poel] will be able to take a start."
-126km
Pogacar drops back to the team car and gets some lubricant applied to his cleats. After a polite 'thank you,' he's quickly back at the rear of the peloton, which is now 5:40 behind De Gendt and Gallopin.
-116km
-115km
The odds are against the success of any early break on a day like this, but De Gendt and Gallopin are battling gamely all the same. The experienced duo now has a buffer of more than 6 minutes on the peloton as they bowl along a seemingly interminable section of false flat along a wide and straight highway.
João Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep) looked to have picked up where he left off at last October's Giro d'Italia with a solid outing in yesterday's time trial. The Portuguese rider lies 5 seconds down on Pogacar ahead of today's summit finish at Jebel Hafeet, though he was decidedly guarded in his assessment of the road ahead yesterday. "We are in a good position for the first summit finish and we'll continue like this, taking it day by day and seeing where that leads us," said Almeida.
-105km
After the recent spate of cancellations and postponements, the sight of Thomas De Gendt off the front of a bike race brings a sense of normality to an unusual early season. Gallopin is a very willing collaborator with the Belgian here. Just as well: as Einer Rubio discovered on the Giro d'Italia last October, it doesn't pay to skip a turn when you're in a break with De Gendt.
-99km
The peloton spreads across the road as it enters a section of mild headwind. With almost 100km and a stiff final climb to go, there is no undue concern about the buffer currently enjoyed by Gallopin and De Gendt.
Speaking before the start, Chris Froome (Israel Start-Up Nation) suggested that the wind could have an impact on today's stage, as it did on the opening day, when he finished as a part of a bunch that came home more than 8 minutes down. "It all depends on how the race pans out. On paper, it’s a flat day until the final climb but the wind is blowing and we could see echelons like the other day," said Froome, who was a low-key 83rd in yesterday's time trial. "I think there’ll be a lot of fighting for position early on and I don’t think it’ll be all about the final climb today - I think we’ll see some splits before that."
Froome was also interviewed in today's Guardian, where he had little to say when asked about former Sky doctor and British Cycling doctor Richard Freeman, who has been charged by UKAD with two violations of anti-doping rules. “I don’t know enough about the specifics of the case to comment. Are these questions in connection to Team Sky or British Cycling? I don’t know the answer so I don’t think it’s fair for me to comment on his case specifically. I don’t know the particulars," said Froome, who raced for both Sky and the British national team.
-91km
-89km
A delegation from UAE Team Emirates is now near the front with Pogacar tucked safely among them. Despite the high speed and high tension, the peloton survives intact for the time being.
-87km
The peloton fans across the road but a truce hasn't been called just yet. Meanwhile, Gallopin and De Gendt stick to their task out in front, though their lead has been cut notably in the last few kilometres, and has now dropped inside four minutes.
De Gendt and Gallopin hae averaged 40.6km through the opening half of today's stage. The pace remains brisk in the peloton behind, however, and the gap has dropped towards three minutes.
The pace eases off slightly in the peloton, and Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) avails of the opportunity to pick up some bidons. Today is about survival for the German, who should have a shot at a bunch finish tomorrow. Emanuel Buchmann is Bora's option for a stage win today, though both the German and Patrick Konrad are already out of the GC contest after missing the split on stage 1.
This is Buchmann's first race of a season that is built around his Giro d'Italia debut. The route of the 2021 Giro will be presented tomorrow afternoon in Milan. The race gets underway in Turin on May 8 and there are some firm rumours about where the road goes from there, with the Zoncolan expected to return, but all will be revealed tomorrow.
-75km
Situation
Israel Start-Up Nation hit the front of the peloton and begin to wind the pace up again. Ineos are also present in numbers on behalf of Adam Yates. The bunch isn't showing signs of splintering, but the surge shaves a chunk of seconds off Gallopin and De Gendt's lead.
-67km
João Almeida was asked beforehand if he thought the UAE Tour would now be a straight duel with Pogacar. "I think its more complicated than that," he said. "There can be wind, and there are good riders close like Adam Yates, my teammate Mattia Cattaneo. Damiano Caruso is also close, and anyone can have a bad day or bad luck."
-59km
Defending champion Adam Yates (Ineos) didn’t sugarcoat his 39-second deficit to Pogacar in the overall standings. “It’s a lot. Everybody knew a TT like yesterday was a strongman’s course, so I was always going to lose time,” he said before the start, though he suggested that the GC frissons might not be limited to the two summit finishes. There’s unpredictably in the race with the wind.”
-54km
The UAE Tour is not the only WorldTour action this week, with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad heralding the beginning of the Belgian season on Saturday. Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne follows on Sunday, the second instalment in the always eagerly anticipated Opening Weekend. Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep), returning to the cobbles after his crash at the Tour of Flanders last October, is among the leading contenders - and he might yet be joined by Mathieu van der Poel. Read a preview of the Opening Weekend here.
-48km
The climb of Jebel Hafeet is 10.8km in length with an average gradient of 5.4%, though that average is lowered considerably by the shallow opening and closing 1500m of the ascent. In between, there are a stiff 7km at an average of 8%, including ramps of 11%.
The UAE Tour climbed Jebel Hafeet twice last year. The first time out, Adam Yates put some 1:03 into Pogacar and 1:30 into Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) after attacking with 6km to go. Two days later, Pogacar outsprinted Yates and Lutsenko at the top.
-41km
-39km
-35km
Bora-Hansgrohe and Deceuninck-QuickStep are prominent at the head of the peloton, where the speed is beginning to pick up once again on the approach to the ascent of Jebel Hafeet. Gallopin and De Gendt's lead is down again to 3:17.
-27km
-24km
-20km
There is an intermediate sprint with 13.5km to go, incidentally, with bonus seconds on offer. Gallopin and De Gendt led through the first intermediate sprint early in the stage, while Filippo Ganna snaffled up the remaining bonus second at the head of the bunch.
Israel Start-Up Nation, Jumbo-Visma and Movistar are among the teams visible at the head of the peloton as the pace rises another couple of notches on the run towards the base of the climb.
-15km
Groupama-FDJ wind up the pace on the front of the peloton, with Ineos and Bora also battling for position as they snake through a series of roundabouts on the approach to the climb - and the intermediate sprint. 1:50 the gap to the two leaders.
-13.5km
It looks as though Michael Morkov led the peloton through the intermediate sprint. There was certainly no contest from the GC contenders for the remaining bonus - hardly surprising, given that they are just a couple of kilometres from making the transition from big to little ring at the base of Jebel Hafeet.
-11km
De Gendt sits up just as the two escapees reach the gentle preamble to Jebel Hafeet. Tony Gallopin is alone at the head of the race, with a lead of 50 seconds over the peloton. The Frenchman knows that he won't fend them off to the summit, but he is determined to finish his day-long effort with a flourish all the same.
-10km
De Gent is caught by the peloton, which is being led by Jan Polanc of UAE Team Emirates.
-9.5km
-9km
UAE Team Emirates set the tempo at the head of the red jersey group, 15 seconds down on the lone leader Gallopin. The pace isn't too brisk just yet, given that European champion Giacomo Nizzolo is still holding the wheels in this group.
-8km
-7.5km
-7km
Jan Polanc swings over, but UAE continue to set the tempo for Pogacar. Adam Yates, Joao Almeida, Sepp Kuss,Vincenzo Nibali and Neilson Powless are all well positioned near the front.
-6.5km
-6km
-5.5km
-5km
Yates comes to the front and lowers the pace, allowing Almeida, Buchmannn et al to bridge back up. Kuss kicks again shortly afterwards, and only Pogacar and Yates can go with him...
-4.5km
-4km
Yates kicks again and still Pogacar follows. The Almeida group, meanwhile, is now 20 seconds back.
-3km
Almeida leads the chasing group, which contains Kuss, Powless, Vanhoucke, Higuita, Buchmann and Florian Stork (DSM). They are 20 seconds or so behind the two leaders, Yates and Pogacar.
-2km
-1.5km
-1km
The gradient relents in the final kilometre... Pogacar sits on Yates' wheel but he looks like he's lining up an acceleration...
Pogacar kicks with a little under 400 metres or so to go. Yates follows but the Slovenian has the upper hand as they approach the line...
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) wins stage 3 of the UAE Tour.
Adam Yates (Ineos) couldn't get back around Pogacar in the final metres, and he has to settle for second on the stage. He'll also move up to second overall behind Pogacar.
Sergio Higuita outsprints Buchmann, Vanhoucke and Almeida for third.
The impressive Florian Stork and Powless come home in 7th and 8th place. The rest of the race is coming home in small groups behind them.
Pogacar and Yates came home in the same time, and they put 48 seconds into Higuita, Buchmann, Vanhoucke and Almeida, while Stork and Powless followed at 54 seconds. Chris Harper (Jumbo-Visma) took 9th on the stage after limiting his losses to a minute.
Result
General classification
Tadej Pogacar on his stage victory: "We wanted a win, we got one. It was a really tough day, kind of stressful because there was a small chance of echelons again but the team did a super, super good job. We stayed in the right spots in all the race and the guys drove me to the bottom of the climb really good and then set the pace. All I had to do was respond to attacks. It was super hard but I’m super happy to win."
Pogacar didn't come through to share the pace-making with Yates once they had dropped Almeida, but he acknowledged the significance of extending his lead over the Portuguese rider on GC. "It was important. When the gap grew, I wanted to keep the gap and I think Adam was thinking the same. In the end it’s super important that the gap is bigger," said Pogacar, who used his previous experience on Jebel Hafeet to good effect to outmanoeuvre Yates in the final 400 metres. "I knew exactly what I needed to do in the sprint. I started early because with the two corners, it’s hard for the guy behind to come past so it was an advantage to start the sprint first. It was super good."
Pogacar now has an overall lead of 43 seconds on Yates and 1:03 on Almeida. Chris Harper and Neilson Powless are the only other riders within two minutes on the general classification with four days remaining. The Slovenian’s position is commanding, but he insisted the race was not yet won. “No, there’s still four stages. Anything can happen,” he said. “There could be echelons and there’s still one more climb. It will be a hard battle until the end.”
Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) declared himself satisfied with his performance after placing 4th on the stage: "I had good legs and I am happy. Of course, I am not at my top level yet and it was my first race since month, therefore, the race rhythm isn’t really there yet, and it is hard when the pace is super high. I struggled a little at some point but recovered quite well and felt strong again at the end. It’s a pity we lost the race already at day one, but at least now we know that our winter preparation was good."
Result
General classification
A full report, results and pictures from today's stage are available here.
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