UAE Tour: Bissegger beats Ganna to stage 3 time trial

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Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-EasyPost) stormed to victory in the stage 3 time trial at the UAE Tour, dispatching world champion Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers)

Bissegger set a blistering time of 9:43 on the 9-kilometre out-and-back course in Ajman, beating Ganna, who has already won two time trials this season, by a full seven seconds.

Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma), making his debut in a season that will see him compete for the Giro d’Italia, clinched the final podium spot at 14 seconds.

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) placed fourth at 18 seconds, showing that he has recovered well from COVID-19 and setting himself up strongly for the defence of his overall title.

Dumoulin could be a threat as the climbing begins on Wednesday, while Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) were other general classification contenders to keep themselves in contention with strong rides. UAE Team Emirates, however, have two cards to play, with João Almeida placing fifth in the time trial, 22 seconds down on Bissegger and four seconds behind teammate Pogacar.

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) produced a spirited attempt to defend his overall lead, placing 10th, but the red jersey slips off his shoulders and passes over to Bissegger.

“I had a really good time trial today,” said Bissegger. “I was also pretty confident that I had good power and so could have a good time. It’s always nice to win and make it, because you never know in a time trial, it’s hard to say how good the others are and if someone has the best day of their lives. I knew at the finish that my time was really good.

“I was looking forward to this time trial for a long time. I had a rough winter with a broken scaphoid and it took a long time until it was fixed. I’m really happy to be back.”

The 9km course in the Ajman Emirate headed east on flat, wide, and largely non-technical roads, before turning back the same way at the half-way mark. A stiff wind was blowing in from the coast, making it roughly a tailwind trip out but a headwind slog on the way back.

Bissegger, with his compact build and low profile, has one of the most wind-efficient positions in the world, and thrived in the headwind on the push for home. However, he was also fastest at the intermediate checkpoint at the half-way mark, making his victory a comprehensive one.

Setting off well ahead of Ganna, he clocked 4:26 at the half-way mark and brought it home for 9:43, giving him an average speed of over 55.5km/h. Ganna, who claimed his second world title last September and has already won this year at Étoile de Bessèges and Tour de la Provence, was one second slower than Bissegger through the checkpoint, before losing another six seconds on the way back.

Dumoulin set off late but immediately stated his intentions with an aggressive run through the start barriers. He was four seconds down on Bissegger at the checkpoint and went on to lose a further 10. It was a similar story for Pogacar, who was five seconds down at the first split before losing another 13 on the run for home.

Almeida rounded out the top five while Mikel Bjerg, who’d started earlier, made it three UAE Team Emirates riders in the top six on the day. Stefan De Bod (Astana Qazaqstan) posted a strong ride for seventh place, while Vlasov - who was third fastest at the half-way mark - took eighth place. Johan Price-Pejtersen (Bahrain Victorious) was ninth, but the rider he beat to win the U23 world title last year, Luke Plapp (Ineos Grenadiers) was taken out of contention as problems with his bike meant he had to race on a normal road bike.

Philipsen then went all-in and produced an impressive ride to round out the top 10 at 28 seconds.

GC picture takes shape before mountain test

After two bunch sprints, the stage 3 time trial saw the overall complexion of the race take shape. Bissegger is in the red jersey, with Ganna second and Philipsen third, but none are part of the fight for the overall title, which is set to unfold on the slopes of Jebel Jais on stage 4 and Jebel Hafeet on the final stage.

Pogacar, while not at his blistering best, gave a good account of himself and appears to be in the sort of form needed to win the UAE Tour for a second time. For reference, he also placed fourth in last year’s early time trial of similar length.

UAE Team Emirates can afford to get creative after also putting Almeida into the top five, but they’ll have to combine to get the better of Dumoulin, who has stolen a march of four seconds on Pogacar. There is a slight question mark over the Dutchman’s climbing, simply because he has done so little of it in the past couple of years, but he has finished second in the past on the Jebel Jais climb coming up on stage 4.

Vlasov, who won the recent Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, is clearly in great form and, just 11 seconds down on Dumoulin, is right in the mix. Yates, winner in 2020 and runner-up last year, produced one of his best time trials to place 12th on the stage and set himself up 15 seconds behind Dumoulin. Fausto Masnada (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) is still in the mix, 24 seconds down, while Romain Bardet (DSM) has given himself a tall order at 32 seconds.