Team Emirates’ Pogacar wins stage five as Yates retains lead
Team Emirates’ Tadej Pogacar leads the peloton to win stage five of the UAE Tour on Thursday.
With the experience of stage 3 under his belt, Pogacar responded to a series of attacks from GC leader Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) and then attacked himself to distance a select group of riders that formed on the 10km climb.
They were joined by David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and Alexey Lutsenko (Mitchelton-Scott) as all were locked in combat desperate for the stage win trading constant attacks unable to create a gap between themselves.
When one went, the other followed hot on their wheel to the finish line where Pogacar just edged out rival Lutsenko with a bike throw at the line in an important win on home soil for the team.
Sven Erik Bystrom and Davide Formolo each pulled the peloton up the Jebel Hafeet ascent as the whole team worked to position Pogacar as well as they could.
Pogacar said “It was an amazing win. On the climb I tried to attack over five times but I saw Yates was strong so I played it smart and waited for the sprint.
“I started the sprint quite early because I knew the last corner was crucial. We took the corner side by side but I kept fighting and pushing until the line.
“I saw the gap in the last metres and I threw the bike and won in the end. The whole team worked perfectly today. This was my first big goal of the year and a home win for the team which is really incredible.”
In addition to the stage win, Pogacar also retains the white jersey and pulls back 6 seconds on the GC leader thanks to the stage winner’s time bonus with two flat stages left to race.
Briton Adam Yates finished third to retain the leader’s jersey, now sitting 1min 01sec ahead of Pogacar in the overall standings, with Lutsenko a further 32sec adrift.
Tomorrow’s penultimate stage sees the riders head to the desert with a 158km route starting from Al Ruwais and finishing in Al Mirfa.
A sprint finish is expected and Fernando Gaviria will be looking to follow in Pogacar’s footsteps with another stage win on home soil for UAE Team Emirates.
Gaviria went head to head with some of the best sprinters in the world as he fought the bunch to take the wheel of Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) in the final metres of Stage 4, just missing out on victory to the Dutchman in a tense finale.
Earlier, a monumental final push in the third stage from Pogacar wasn’t enough to take the win as Yates comes out on top.
The 184km Emirates Stage finished with an exhausting 10.8km climb as Yates launched a surprisingly early attack with 6km to go. Pogacar didn’t react to Yates’ initial acceleration but then ripped clear of the chasing group with 5km remaining, finishing second in the stage, claiming the young rider’s jersey and ending the day second in the GC in a successful day for the team.
He said “It was extremely hot today, so for me on a climb like that in those temperatures it was a really good ride and I’m pleased. There is still three stages with another big mountain stage and the chance of crosswinds tomorrow so it’s not over yet. We have a strong team here so will try something for sure.”
