Sheikh Mohammed attends 4th stage of UAE Tour held in Dubai
Sheikh Mohammed greets the contestants as they cycled along the tour route in the Al Marmoom area on Thursday. WAM
A total of 137 professional riders representing 20 teams from across the world are competing in the international cycling tournament.
Sheikh Mohammed greeted the contestants as they cycled along the tour route in the Al Marmoom area. Sheikh Mohammed was accompanied by Khalifa Saeed Sulaiman, Chairman of Protocols for the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of the Dubai Sports Council. The fourth stage of the UAE Tour 2023, which started in the Al Shindagha neighbourhood, covers a distance of 174 kilometres.
The route, which passes through Al Qudra, Expo City Dubai, and the Palm Jumeirah, ends in Dubai Harbour.
The UAE Tour is organised by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council. The UAE Tour 2023, which commenced on Feb.20, concludes on Sunday with the seventh stage. The Tour will cover a total of 1,028 kilometres.
Meanwhile, it was a cause for celebration in the UAE with a perfect sprint and victory for Juan Sebastian Molano, who was victorious on stage 4 of the UAE Tour in Dubai.
The Colombian rider was the fastest man in the peloton in the massive sprint on the final straight of stage 4 (Al Shindagha-Dubai Harbour, 174 km), a few centimeters ahead of Olav Koji (Jumbo-Visma), Sam Welsford (Team DSM) and Arvid De Kleijn (Tudor).
The three-man breakaway that had led the race for most of the course was neutralized at 2.6 km to go, then the battle for the best positions in view of the final straight begun.
Molano was skilful in keeping himself well covered, waiting for the best moment to exit from the slipstream of the other rivals who had started their sprints earlier: the Colombian rider succeeded in overtaking everyone to take his first win of the season.
For Molano, this is the 20th victory as pro rider, for UAE Team Emirates this is the 10th success in 2023. Sebastian Molano: “It is an amazing victory for me and for the team in a race which is very important for us as a team and for all of UAE as a country. I am happy for everybody, for my teammates, our sponsors and for all the staff members. “I took my last victory in a prestigious stage such as the last one of the Vuelta, now it’s great to have added this new success in another big race. I’m really delighted with it.”
Red Jersey holder Remco Evenepoel said: “It was a very special stage for me to be wearing the Red Jersey. In one day, we saw many of the major landmarks in Dubai, and it was a beautiful stage. It went well for me as well. My legs felt good after yesterday. We tried to win the stage with Tim Merlier but being in the leader’s jersey, I couldn’t take any risks in the lead out.” The fast-men of the bunch will have the chance to battle again tomorrow on stage 5, 170 km from Al Marjan Island to Umm al Quwain.
After a slow start in the tournament, UAE Team Emirates seem to be peaking at the right time. They have changed the gears and catching up their rivals pretty fast. They have managed to notch up two consecutive podium finishes in two days. It all started with Yates finishing third to deliver a first podium finish.
WAM / Agencies
