Great-Britain’s Adam Yates claimed a big victory atop Jebel Hafeet on Stage 3, the Emirates Stage, on his first participation in a bike race in the UAE as he soloed up the 10km long hill. Reaching the summit he took an advantage of more than one minute over his rivals, the closest of which was hot favourite Tadej Pogacar from Slovenia, who had to settle for second place and best young rider position. Kazakhstan’s Alexey Lutsenko rounded out the Stage 3 podium in the second edition of the UAE Tour.
STAGE RESULT
1 - Adam Yates, 184km in 4h42’33”, average speed 39.0072km/h
2 - Tadej Pogacar at 1'03"
3 - Alexey Lutsenko at 1'30"
JERSEYS
- The Red Jersey, sponsored by Emirates (General individual classification by time) - Adam Yates
- The Green Jersey, sponsored by Mubadala (General individual classification by points) - Caleb Ewan
- The White Jersey, sponsored by Nakheel (Best Young Rider born after 1 January 1995) - Tadej Pogacar
- The Black Jersey, sponsored by Abu Dhabi Aviation (Intermediate Sprint Jersey Classification) - Veljko Stojnic
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1 - Adam Yates
2 - Tadej Pogacar at 1'07"
3 - Alexey Lutsenko at 1'35"
PRESS CONFERENCE
Stage winner and GC leader Adam Yates said: “I just went solo to test the legs and see who’d come with me to take conclusions from there. I felt super and no one came with me. I went full gas at the front and it worked out well even though it was very hot for me today, around 37° for most of the race. It’s my first race of the year so I didn’t know how I’d feel and who’d be up against me, especially with the young guys coming up. I still feel young but I get older every year. Now I just have to stay on my toes to try and win the race overall.”
Tadej Pogacar, second on the line, said: “I may be a little bit disappointed not to win, but I saw how good Adam [Yates] was. I could have followed him for longer but for sure he would have won anyway because he was stronger. I could just have lost with a smaller gap. For sure I’ll try to attack him on the climb when we’ll come back here in two days but he might still be too strong for me.”
Stage winner Adam Yates on stage with H.E. Saeed Hareb, Dubai Sports Council Secretary General, H.E. Mattar Suhail Al Yabhouni, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Cycling Club and Ismail Ali Abdulla, CEO of Strata
