Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Dstny) won the overall title at the UAE Tour after winning the final summit finish to Jebel Hafeet on the finale stage 7.
The Belgian powered clear with 1.7km remaining to claim stage victory by 22 seconds from Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R).
Van Eetvelt secured the overall title by two seconds ahead of Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and 11 seconds ahead of Pello Bilbao (Bahrain - Victorious).
Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) continued his rich run of winning form by notching up his third victory of the UAE Tour on stage 6 to Abu Dhabi. The Belgian’s well-timed effort saw him beat Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor) and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) to the line in another frantic bunch sprint.
Overall leader Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) carries a buffer of 11 seconds into Sunday’s final stage, which features a summit finish at Jebel Hafeet.
It was the closest sprint yet at the UAE Tour, with Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) narrowly denying Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) his hat-trick of stage wins on stage 5 in a photo-finish victory.
Merlier was majorly out of position in the final kilometre, forced to launch from way down in the peloton, with Kooij starting his sprint on the right-hand side of the road off the back of a strong Astana Qazaqstan lead out for Mark Cavendish.
As the Brit ran out of steam, Kooij made his dart for the line and just managed to pip Merlier by a few millimetres at the line with a great bike throw. Sam Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe) was third.
Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) doubled up on wins at the 2024 UAE Tour with a second stage win after latching onto Olav Kooij's (Visma-Lease a Bike) early dart for the line and slingshotting out of the Dutchman's wheel. Kooij dropped to third at the line as Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling) also came around him.
Top sprinters Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan), Sam Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Fabio Jakobsen (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) failed to crack the top five after a hectic final rush for the important last corner left them out of position with the Australian also getting held up by a crash.
The late crash 2.6km from the finish managed to avoid the GC leaders despite slightly delaying Jay Vine's (UAE Team Emirates) arrival at the finish, meaning the Australian carries his 11-second lead on Ben O'Connor into the fifth stage.
Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) outfoxed the other GC favourites to take victory on stage 3 of the UAE Tour after launching a perfectly timed tandem attack with teammate Valentin Paret-Peintre in the final 1.2km of the Jebel Jais climb.
The Australian held off the chase from Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) in second and Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny) in third after they failed to make contact following the opportunistic move.
But the Aussie's second-place finish and six bonus seconds gained meant he moved into the race lead ahead of teammate Brandon McNulty as the American struggled in the final sprint.
O'Connor gained ten bonus seconds with the win, moving him up to second overall, 11 seconds down on Vine while McNulty slipped to third, a further two seconds back.
The USA's Brandon McNulty led UAE Team Emirates to a 1-2-3 in the 12.1km time trial stage on Hudayriyat Island south of Abu Dhabi, winning the stage in a time of 13:27. Jay Vine and Mikkel Bjerg completed the all UAE Team Emirates podium as they took control of their 'home' stage race.
Former world time trial champion Tobias Foss (Ineos Grenadiers) is now their closest overall rival after losing 14 seconds to McNulty. Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) can also not be ruled out after he lost 19 seconds and finished fourth overall in 2023.
Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step) won the first sprint of the 2024 UAE Tour, avoiding the chaos of a crash in the peloton with 250 metres to go and surging past Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) and Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates) to win with his arms in the air.
The crash happened in sight of the finish, with a touch of wheels causing a number of riders to crash at 70 km/h. Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Jakub Mareczko (Corratec-Vini Fantini) came through to take second and third also passing Gaviria who faded to sixth in the final hundred metres.
Thanks to a ten-second time bonus for his stage victory, Merlier pulled on the race leader’s red jersey. However, stage 2 is a 12.1km time trial around Al Hudayriyat Island near Abu Dhabi, with the overall contenders and time trial specialists expected to dominate the results.
UAE Tour 2024 Information
The UAE Tour returns for a sixth edition in 2024, taking place over seven days from Madinat Zayed on February 19 to Jebel Hafeet on February 25. In 2024, the lone WorldTour race in the Middle East is positioned as the third event on the WorldTour calendar for men, as the Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race returned to their January slots.
The UAE Tour launched in 2019 when two existing races merged, the Abu Dhabi Tour and the Dubai Tour. Primož Roglič won the inaugural race. Last year, Remco Evenepoel claimed the overall victory besting Luke Plapp and Adam Yates. In 2022, Tadej Pogačar won the overall title for the second year in a row, making it a replay of 2021 as he finished in front of runner-up Adam Yates.
In 2024, the route, which includes two mountain-top finishes and one individual time trial, is rounded out by four flat stages. The final stage culminates with the climb of Jebel Hafeet which has been the grand finale of the seven-day stage race on multiple occasions. It has become a defining climb in the Middle East, having been part of the Abu Dhabi Tour and now the UAE Tour. The climb sits on one of the highest mountains in the United Arab Emirates and near the border with Oman.
Stage 6, Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum-Abu Dhabi Breakwater, 138km
Stage 7, Al Ain Bait Mohammed Bin Khalifa-Jebel Hafeet, 161km
UAE Tour contenders
Yates won on Jebel Hafeet for the second time in 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Cycling’s biggest GC stars won’t be starting their 2024 seasons at the UAE Tour with the previous two winners of the race, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) opting for early programmes in Italy and Portugal.
But in their absence still remains a strong GC field with Tour de France podium sitter and winner of the recent Tour of Oman, Adam Yates set to line up as the heavy favourite. The Brit is a former winner from 2020 and has sat on the podium of the last four editions.
He’ll face close, but friendly competition from inside his team as Brandon McNulty and Jay Vine also feature on their starting roster here. Vine and McNulty may be better suited to the flat 12km individual time trial on stage 2, but Yates’ dominance on the most important climb - Jebel Hafeet - may prove the difference come the end of stage seven.
The Brit has won twice up the decisive climb and after blitzing the field up Green Mountain at last week’s Tour of Oman, he will be the man to beat on Jebel Hafeet. It makes up one of the three decisive moments for the GC contenders at 11km in length with an average gradient of 7%, alongside stage three’s summit finish on Jebel Jais (19km at 5.6%) which often ends in a reduced-bunch finish for the climbers and the stage 2 flat ITT.
Making his debut at the race is Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), who could certainly feature in the latter stages on Hafeet and stick with Yates, alongside runner-up from 2023 Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla).
Plapp’s form is unknown after a tough period of racing Down Under, but he is entering the race as the road race and time trial national champion. He’ll enjoy any echelons and should have the advantage over the other GC contenders in the Al Hudayriyat Island time trial.
Bubbling under the known contenders for overall victory which also includes Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) is a whole host of youth talents hoping to step up against Yates. Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-QuickStep) has already proved himself to an extent but a top WorldTour stage race result looks imminent.
His countryman Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny) will be another rider under 23 hoping to show himself and his punch in a late sprint should make him strong up stage three’s Jebel Jais finish. Max Poole (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) will look to kick on in his second senior season after showing his talents in Romandie and at the Dauphiné last season.
The UAE Tour is incredibly important for the home team so Yates won’t want to be missing any echelons as he did in 2023. It also forms part of his run into the Tour de France where he was the best climbing domestique last year for Pogačar and his form will be vital should the Emirati team be able to defeat the reigning two-time champion Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).
