World champion takes second behind Adam Yates at Jebel Hafeet
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Remco Evenepoel Adam Yates UAE Tour(Image credit: Getty)
Remco Evenepoel went deep on Jebel Hafeet(Image credit: Getty)
Adam Yates drops Remco Evenepoel to win the final stage of the UAE Tour(Image credit: Getty)
Remco Evenepoel was dropped with 3km to go as Adam Yates danced clear.(Image credit: Getty)
Remco Evenepoel crosses the line in second place(Image credit: Getty)
Remco Evenepoel limited his losses in the final 3km(Image credit: Getty)
Adam Yates takes a bidon as he and Sepp Kuss keep pace with Remco Evenepoel(Image credit: Getty)
Sepp Kuss battles on the climb of Jebel Hafeet(Image credit: Getty)
Remco Evenepoel set the tempo after Adam Yates' initial attack(Image credit: Getty)
Adam Yates powers into the final kilometre with a winning lead.(Image credit: Getty)
Adam Yates' stage win moved him onto the final podium.(Image credit: Getty)
Adam Yates win stage 7 of the UAE Tour(Image credit: Getty)
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) sealed overall victory at the UAE Tour by placing second behind Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) on the summit finish atop Jebel Hafeet on stage 7.
After combining with Yates to distance the rest of their podium rivals midway up the climb, the world champion was himself dropped with 3km remaining, but he kept the Briton in sight all the way to the line to ensure there would be no late upset here.
Evenepoel even began to close in on Yates as the gradient eased slightly in the final kilometre, but he ultimately had to settle for second place on the stage, ten seconds down, with Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R Citroën) made a late charge to take third on the stage at 42 seconds.
Luke Plapp (Ineos) limited his losses to take second overall, 59 seconds behind Evenepoel, while Yates’ late onslaught – and the stage winner’s time bonus – help to lift him above Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and onto the third step of the podium.
“It was hard. I thought Yates was just going to stay on my wheel and then jump in the last few hundred metres, I would have been happy with that,” Evenepoel said afterwards. “But in the end, I had to go over the limit to keep up with him. I think I came closer towards the end, but then my legs ran out of energy in the end because we went super fast on the climb.”
Yates was signed by UAE Team Emirates largely to support Tadej Pogačar at the Tour de France but also to deputise for the Slovenian at the team’s home race, but his hopes of overall victory were effectively ended when he missed the decisive echelon on the opening stage.
Sunday’s grand finale offered Yates – overall winner here in 2020 – a shot at salvaging something from the race, and he didn’t let the opportunity pass him by. After Mikkel Bjerg, Marc Soler, and Brandon McNulty laid down a supersonic tempo at the foot of the climb, Yates began his offensive with some 6km remaining.
Only Evenepoel and Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) could follow that initial acceleration, while Plapp and Bilbao scrambled to limit their losses. Evenepoel took over and distanced Kuss shortly afterwards while Yates settled in behind and weighed up his options.
As the gradient stiffened on a bend with 3km remaining, Yates climbed from the saddle and danced clear of Evenepoel, quickly opening what proved to be a winning gap. Evenepoel, of course, was a resilient foe, carefully tapping out a steady tempo on the steeper slopes before winding up his pace inside the flamme rouge.
Yates’ initial lead of 16 seconds was beginning to contract, but the Briton had done enough to score stage victory and to dislodge Bilbao from the final podium spot.
“The tactic was to go full gas at the bottom. We had nothing to lose,” Yates said. “I was so far down on the GC after the crosswind stage, we just had to go all out from the bottom and see what happened. The guys did an amazing job. I attacked quite early, but I knew I had to push really hard to drop the guys, and finally, I managed to do it.”
Evenepoel had already distanced dangermen Plapp and Bilbao by the time of Yates’ attack, and he knew he needed only to keep the leader within sight to cement his first victory as world champion.
“When Yates attacked, Kuss and I were the only ones on his wheel, and then a few moments later, we were alone,” Evenepoel said. “I just decided to do my own high pace. I knew he was going to try something, but I was happy because I could always see him in front of me, so I knew the overall victory was quite safe.”
How it unfolded
The long preamble to the 10km ascent of Jebel Hafeet was enlivened by a breakaway featuring Jaakko Hänninen (AG2R Citroën), Maurice Ballerstedt (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Ignatas Konovalovas (Groupama-FDJ), Michel Hessmann (Jumbo-Visma) and Sam Welsford (DSM), but the peloton was never likely to give them a long enough leash to stay clear to the finish.
Come the base of the climb, their lead was down to 2:26, with Hessmann and Konovalovas the last survivors as Soudal-QuickStep wound up the pace on behalf of Evenepoel. Shortly afterwards, UAE Team Emirates began their forcing, with Bjerg taking up the reins with 8km to go, followed by Soler and then McNulty.
The American’s show of force reeled in the break and whittled the front group down to a dozen or so riders, and when he swung off with 6km to go, Yates took over. Evenepoel and Kuss followed while Bilbao and Plapp scrambled behind.
A kilometre or so later, Evenepoel’s pace-making proved too much for Kuss, though the American still managed the climb smartly to take fourth place on the stage, 47 seconds down.
While Yates and Evenepoel were busily sealing up the main prizes in front, Plapp and Bilbao were locked in a battle for the podium places behind. The pair would reach the summit together, 54 seconds down on Yates. It was enough for Plapp to secure second overall, but Bilbao had to settle for fourth overall, 1:03 down on Evenepoel.
For Evenepoel, the race offered encouraging signs ahead of the Giro d’Italia. His next outing in preparation for the corsa rosa will come at the Volta a Catalunya.
“There are only good signs towards the Giro. And I’m really happy with my first victory as a world champion,” said Evenepoel. “It’s the first race where I came to try to do a good GC. I haven’t gone to altitude yet, I’ll go in a few days, so I can only improve.
“I’m very proud to win this beautiful race also because my wife is Moroccan, so I think it’s pretty special for her and for me to win a race in the Emirates. I think I can go home with really good feelings.”
Barry Ryan was Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.
