UAE Tour stage 3: Tadej Pogačar wins on Jebel Hafeet to secure grip on GC

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Emirates) fended off Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) to win the stage and secure his overall leader’s jersey in Tuesday’s third stage at the UAE Tour.

The pair pulled clear with about 4km to go on the decisive Jebel Hafeet climb. Yates tried in vain to drop the 2020 Tour de France winner off his wheel with several searing attacks in the closing kilometers.

“We wanted the win and we got one,” Pogačar said. “It was a tough stage. The guys drove me to the bottom of the climb and then set the pace. All I had to do was respond to attacks. It was super hard, but I am super happy to win. I knew exactly the sprint and what I needed to do. I started early, with two corners, it’s hard to pass from behind, so it was an advantage to sprint first.”

With the pressure to win on his team’s home roads, Pogačar cooly marked Yates wheel to defend his overall leader’s jersey. Pogačar pounced with under 1km to go to take position coming into the final curves, and won the stage by a bike’s length.

“There are still four stages. Anything can happen, echelons and one more climb,” Pogačar said. “It’s going to be a hard battle to the end.”

Sergio Higuita (EF Education-Nippo) crossed the line third at 47 seconds back. Pogačar, who started in the leader’s jersey, now leads by 43 seconds to Yates. João Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) slotted into third overall at 1:03 back.

“It was a really hard pace on the whole climb, and it was super-warm, so it was hard,” said Almeida, who defended a podium spot. “I did a good effort, and I am happy with the result as well.”

Things get spicy on Jebel Hafeet

The main brunt of the pack hit the base of the decisive climb after collaborating to reel in a two-rider breakaway. Ineos Grenadiers and UAE-Team Emirates helped finish off the chase to leading rider Tony Gallopin (Ag2r-Citroën) with 8km to go, with the GC contenders poised to jump.

Chris Froome dangled near the back of GC group with 9km to go, and later lost contact with about 6km to go in his season debut in his high-profile move to Israel Start-Up Nation. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), a two-time winner on the climb, ceded ground with 7km to go.

A high pace at the front soon saw the GC group dwindled to about 20 riders with 5km to go, with Dani Martínez taking deep pulls at the front in his debut with Ineos Grenadiers. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) dropped the hammer with 5km to go, and again at 4.5km to go, with Yates and Pogačar marking his wheel.

Yates countered with just over 4km to go, gapping Kuss who pulled back to help teammate Chris Harper, who started the day fourth overall. Yates surged again with 3.6km ago, but Pogačar was all over him. Neilson Powless (EF Education-Nippo) was riding well in the main chasing group.

Yates tried — and tried again in vain — to shake Pogačar and ride the Tour de France champion off his wheel.

Early breakaway drives it to climb

Legs were fresh following Monday’s time trial stage, won by Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), who extended his time trial winning streak to eight races.

The 166km third stage from Strata Manufactoring to Jebel Hafeet was pancake flat until the final kick to the finish line. The 1,000m vertical climb features average grade of 6.9 percent at 10.6km, providing a sharp finish to one of the race’s decisive stages.

Lotto-Soudal’s Thomas De Gendt, among the peloton’s confirmed breakaway artists, peeled away early. Linking up with him was Ag2r-Citroën’s Gallopin, and the pair carved up a promising gap of north of three minutes.

The top teams were slow to organize but trimmed the gap to about 1 minute with just over 10km to go. Seeing the fight was up, De Gendt sat up, leaving Gallopin to dangle off the front heading toward the climb.

Up next: Another shot for the sprinters

After echelons blew up Sunday’s opening stage opening the door for Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) to win before leave the race, Wednesday’s flat run-in stage 4 should give the bunch’s pure sprinters a chance at glory.

The 204km loop course starting and finishing on Al Marjan Island could be open to echelons with strong, gusting winds along the coast. Riders such as Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) and Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) will be the pre-stage favorites.