UAE Tour: Vingegaard wins stage 5

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Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) claimed victory atop Jebel Jais on stage 5 of the UAE Tour, as Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) finished second to extend his overall lead over Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers).

In a tense finale at the top of the 21km final climb, Vingegaard caught and passed the last survivor from the breakaway Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) in the final metres, to claim the biggest win of his short career.

Pogacar sprinted from the main group of favourites to finish just behind in second, with Yates taking third. The bonus seconds increased the Slovenian’s lead to 45 seconds with just two flat stages remaining.

A steady grind of a climb at 5.4 per cent on a smooth wide highway, Jebel Jais produced a memorable tussle between Lutsenko and the Ineos-lead peloton, before coming to a thrilling climax on the steeper upper slopes.

Lutsenko was part of a seven-man break that started the climb with a two-minute advantage and he survived all the way to the final 250 metres. Ineos’ Brandon Rivera chipped away for most of the climb but the action started when the Colombian pulled aside with 4.5km to go and with Lutsenko still a minute up the road.

Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) launched an attack in a period of disorganization, drawing three others out, but it was Joao Almeida’s attack with 1.6km to go that really hurt Lutsenko’s lead, as the Deceuninck-QuickStep rider – Pogacar and Yates in tow – flew past the Nibali group.

There was, however, another lull ahead of the flamme rouge, as the favourites regrouped and looked around at each other, allowing Lutsenko to re-establish his 15-second lead. 

Vingegaard sensed his moment and attacked on the left. Reactions came from Nick Schultz (BikeExchange) and Sergio Higuita (EF-Nippo) but the young Dane was stronger and managed to claw his way across to Lutsenko.

The catch was made with 250 metres to go and Lutsenko, spent after all his efforts, could do nothing as Vingegaard eased clear to punch the air in emotional celebration.

“I think I timed it quite well,” he said. “I was thinking it was going a bit easy in the peloton at that point, they were slowing a bit down, and I was thinking maybe I can try. And then I saw him in front on the road. I think he made a last effort to keep me behind. Luckily for me I was able to catch and also to beat him in the sprint.

“I’m very, very happy. This is a big victory for me. It’s very, very big for me. it’s my first victory this season, I’m very proud of it.”

How it unfolded

The stage started out from Fujairah in unusual fashion, as just one rider went up the road as the peloton rode along at a casual pace. That was Mathias Frank (AG2R Citroën), who had two-and-a-half minutes at one point. However, he did eventually get company. 

A flurry of attacks showed there was appetite for a breakaway, and after 50km Roger Kluge (Lotto Soudal) succeeded in dragging five riders clear: Larry Warbasse (AG2R-Citroen), Omer Goldstein (Israel Start-Up Nation), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Kevin Colleoni (Team BikeExchange) and Lasse Norman Hansen (Qhubeka-Assos). Late to the part were Lutsenko and Alex Dowsett (Israel Start-Up Nation), but they joined to make it seven as the race settled into a more familiar pattern.

The terrain was gentle enough for much of the day, and Ineos took it upon themselves to set the pace in the peloton to control the break, with Luke Rowe and Andrey Amador the principal riders. They kept the gap below three minutes for much of the day, before time trial world champion Filippo Ganna took it up in the final 50km.

The Italian helped bring the gap down to two minutes by the foot of Jebel Jais, which measures 21.2km at an average gradient of 5.4 per cent. 

The British team then peeled aside, leaving UAE Team Emirates on the front with Mikkel Bjerg. The pace then ebbed, the gap went back out to 2:30, and Ineos were forced to come and take it back up.

The breakaway had started to split as soon as they hit the climb, with Dowsett and Hansen the first to drop, followed by Kluge and Wabasse, and then Colleoni. With four riders and 17km remaining, Lutsenko made his attack, and it was swift and effective, the Kazakh champion pulling away as the others resigned themselves to drifting back to the bunch.

The middle section of the climb became a battle between Lutsenko and Ineos. 

Sosa was the first pace-maker for the British team but pulled aside with 15.5km to go and the gap at 1:35. 24-year-old Colombian Brandon Rivera then settled in for a huge stint at the head of the bunch. His tempo was steady if not blistering, and the gap to Lutsenko diminished slowly but surely. With 11.5km to go, he still had 1:20, and with 6.5km to go it was down on a minute. Still Rivera was leading what was by then a peloton of 50.

Things changed with 4.5km to go, as Rivera put in one last acceleration. As he pulled over, Ben Zwiehoff (Bora-Hansgrohe) attacked, and Ineos’ Daniel Martínez gapped the rest of the bunch in pulling him back. After Chris Froome (Israel Start-Up Nation) was dropped, Martínez then returned to the front to lift the pace again. He’d brought the gap down to 30 seconds by the time he pulled over with 3.3km to go.

There was suddenly a lull, and Nibali pounced, going clear in pursuit of Lutsenko. Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Soudal), Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ) and later Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) later made their way across to Nibali as the gap stabilized at 17 seconds, but Almeida’s acceleration with 1.6km to go wiped out that group.

Almeida kicked again and Yates had to close the gap, with Pogacar on his wheel, but when he did so, there was another lull. The gap to Lutsenko ticked back out to 15 seconds as he neared the flamme rouge, and Vingegaard sensed his opportunity.

There was a scramble behind, and ultimately a spirited sprint from the two pre-stage favourites, but Vingegaard was already celebrating as Lutsenko was left empty-handed.