Daniel Martin places fifth on Jebel Hafeet

Daniel Martin finishes fifth on the feared Jebel Hafeet climb after a long move at the front with race leader Primoz Roglic, David Gaudu and Emanuel Buchmann.
The Irishman ends the day 12 seconds behind winner Alejandro Valverde and sits sixth overall at 54 seconds.

He lost a few seconds at three kilometres to race when Roglic accelerated. World champion Valverde (Movistar) joined him, they worked together to return to the front with a big push. Valverde once with the front runners at 800 metres out, took control of the climb he knows very well thanks to last year’s win here.
Slovenian Roglic (Team Jumbo-Visma) placed second and maintained his lead. Frenchman Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) finished third.

“The climb was very fast,” said Martin (photo Bettini) “There was a tail-wind and we had a strong push thanks to it. We wanted to win here today, like in every stage this week in our team’s home race, but I couldn’t give any more. It’s not what I wanted, clearly, but I’m happy all the same with my performance.

My team-mates worked incredibly well for me and we are showing a true group spirit. Fernando won yesterday and today he was at the front in the wind for us, this shows that we are fighting together to get the best possible result for the team.

Regarding the overall classification, there are still some complicated days ahead to race, especially with the wind, and for this reason we are going to take it day by day.”

The fourth stage tomorrow travels from Dubai to Hatta Dam, the longest day of this race at 197km. In the last 200 metres, the road ramps upwards at 12 to 17%.

Stage 3 results
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar 4h44’50”
2 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma s.t.
3 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ s.t.
5 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 12″

General classification after stage 3
1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 9h38’05”
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar 14″
3 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 31″
6 Daniel Martin (UAE Team Emirates) 54″