UAE Team Emirates light it up at UAE Tour

UAE Team Emirates laid down a strong marker on stage 1 of the UAE Tour, with Tadej Pogačar finishing in 6th place and crucially, gaining valuable time on most of his rivals for the general classification.

The action started with over 100km to go when strong crosswinds provoked an elite group to form at the front including Tadej Pogačar, Mikkel Bjerg, Max Richeze and Fernando Gaviria from the Emirati squad.

The group held a steady gap of 1’30’’ over the chasing peloton before opening up the gap in the closing 20km to over 4’. Fernando Gaviria hit out early for victory with 1km to go but fell short on the dash to the line , won by Mathieu Van Der Poel (Alpecin).

Pogačar now finds himself well placed in the general classification in 5th place, just 8’’ behind race leader Van Der Poel.

Tomorrow the race continues on Al Hudayriat Island with a 13km flat individual time trial.

 
Pogačar : “It was a really hard stage with the wind, but in the end our team did a super good job with four guys in the front group. Sadly we missed the stage win but I think we showed that we are strong and up for the fight.We were there at the front and we’ve set ourselves up well for the next few days.“

Stage 1 results

Mathieu Van Der Poel (Alpecin ) 3:45:47
David Dekker (Jumbo-Visma) s.t
Michael Morkov (Deceuninck-Quickstep) s.t
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) s.t

General Classification after stage 1

Mathieu Van Der Poel (Alpecin ) 3:45:47
David Dekker (Jumbo-Visma) +4’’
Michael Morkov (Deceuninck-Quickstep) +6’’
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) +8’’