Tadej Pogačar is poised to win a second consecutive UAE Tour on Saturday but the talented young Slovenian is concerned about the big final effort he may need to make on the climb of Jebel Hafeet and in the heat of the UAE desert.
The 10.8km twisting climb will crown the winner of the 2022 UAE Tour. Pogačar has won there in 2021 and 2020 and seems suited to the constant gradients and sprinting out of the sharp left corner in the final metres. However, he is concerned about the heat.
Temperatures of around 32°C are forecast for the final stage at sea level, where much of the 148km stage will be raced. It will be cooler at the 1025-metre higher summit but Pogačar knows it will be a big day in the saddle. For UAE Team Emirates, victory on home roads is massively important.
“Tomorrow is the most exciting day I guess,” Pogačar said after riding calmly in the peloton on stage 6 as the sprinters failed to catch the break and19-year-old Czech rider Mathias Vacek won the stage.
“I just don’t like that it will be the hottest day of the whole week. So far we had nice weather but tomorrow I see it’ll be even more degrees than today and it was already super hot. I’m happy that tomorrow is the last stage. We're ready to defend the jersey but we're not too stressed."
Pogacar has the support of a strong UAE Team Emirates squad, with Rafał Majka, João Almeida, George Bennett all there to help him on the climb. Pascal Ackermann, Mikkel Bjerg and Max Richeze can do any work on the flat roads that may be needed.
Pogacar leads Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) by four seconds, with the bigger overall threat Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) third at 14 seconds. Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) is at 17 seconds and the USA’s Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) is fifth at 25 seconds.
With a time bonus of ten seconds awarded to the stage winner, six for second place and four for third place, every second could count, including the three, two and one seconds awarded at the two intermediate sprints.
“From what I saw so far, concerning the climb, Adam Yates and Aleksandr Vlasov are the strongest riders but Intermarche also showed how strong they are with two guys on the Jebel Jais climb,” Pogacar said of his rivals.
“A lot can happen. I think we have a strong team to hold the group together and so control the race.”
Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates were one of the few teams happy to see the breakaway steal the glory from the sprinters. The surprise outcome meant they avoided fighting for position and risked crashing in a bunch sprint.
Pogacar was sporting in his praise of the breakaway and winner Mathias Vacek, who became the youngest ever winner of a stage, ahead of the Slovenian.
“I’m not surprised to see a young guy win. He’s super strong if he rode like that today. It’s incredible. They pushed a lot of power for 180km. That’s not a short distance. I’m happy for him,” he said.
"It’s nice to see a breakaway make it to the finish. It’s not nice for the sprinters but it’s something different. They showed it’s possible for the breakaway to make it, also on the flat stages. I was surprised by it but it’s cycling.”
