Tadej Pogačar celebrates the win(Image credit: Getty Images)
The peloton early on stage 7(Image credit: Getty Images)
Riders attack to make the break of the day(Image credit: Getty Images)
The stage 7 breakaway out front(Image credit: Getty Images)
Riders speed past on the way to Jebel Hafeet(Image credit: Getty Images)
The GC teams work on the front to control the break(Image credit: Getty Images)
Tadej Pogačar launched a long solo attack to win stage 7 and the UAE Tour(Image credit: Getty Images)
Pogačar solo en route to glory(Image credit: Getty Images)
Other GC contenders were left chasing shadows following the winning move(Image credit: Getty Images)
Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) took second on the stage(Image credit: Getty Images)
Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) rounded out the podium(Image credit: Getty Images)
World champion Pogačar celebrates his stage and overall victory on the final podium(Image credit: Getty Images)
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) sealed his third career title at the UAE Tour after winning the final stage summit finish at Jebel Hafeet with a 7.6km solo move.
The Slovenian was already in the race lead, having triumphed on the mountaintop finish at Jebel Jais earlier in the week. If things were close on stage 3, with Pogačar leading home a group of six riders, he removed all doubt with a dominant display on Sunday.
With Pogačar's crown already in place, having attacked from a lead group already cut down thanks to the crosswinds earlier in the stage, the remaining podium spots were left to fight over from a chasing pack of strong climbers.
In the end, it was Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) who took second on the day, 32 seconds down. The Italian outsprinted Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), who finished a further three seconds adrift of the champion.
The 2025 UAE Tour's final general classification would reflect the stage finishing order, with Ciccone leaping up to take second overall, 1:14 down. Bilbao ended up with third place, 1:19 back on Pogačar.
"A lot of guys had the last day to do something today. With the crosswinds, it was good to make some chaos in the group and for us GC riders we had to be careful and attentive. It split the first time in the crosswinds. Somehow it worked. At first I didn’t believe it would be cooperative but it went to the finish so it was a good day.
"I wouldn't have minded to go easy to the climb, but like this, it was pretty good. Florian [Vermeersch] and Rune [Herregodts] in the front kept getting me water and cooling me down so it didn't make it too hard a day.
"That's when Rune pulled off. Two non-climbers left for me in the bunch so they pulled as much as they could. Then I decided to go solo and I didn’t want to be surprised or counter-attacked or anything, so it was better to go at my own pace to the top."
With Pogačar taking home the overall win and Ciccone and Bilbao sealing off the podium spots, three other jerseys were left to be handed out following stage 7.
The green points jersey went to double stage winner Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), while Iván Romeo (Movistar) won the white young rider's jersey. The black intermediate sprints jersey was won by Đorđe Đurić (Solution Tech-Vini Fantini).
How it unfolded
The seventh and final stage of the UAE Tour would lead the riders on a 176km route from Al Ain Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium to the week's toughest stretch of road, the 10.9km, 6.7% Jebel Hafeet.
The day would consist of 166km of flat desert roads before angling upwards to a conclusion. Unlike previous stages, however, the battle for the breakaway would not be decided quickly in the opening kilometres.
Instead, there were battles raging to get out front, while a mass crash took several – including Chris Froome (Israel-Premier Tech) – out of the race.
A move by Froome's teammate Alexey Lutsenko instigated the breakaway, with the Kazakhstani rider joined out front by his teammate Pier-André Côté plus Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Ayco Bastiaens (Soudal-QuickStep), Logan Currie (Lotto), Enrico Zanoncello (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè), and the Solution Tech-Vini Fantini ttrio of Dušan Rajović, Đorđe Đurić, and Carlos Samudio.
That move was established after 25km of racing, but the pace wouldn't let up as crosswinds stuck in the following kilometres. At around the 130km to go mark, the breakaway began to fall apart while further back, the peloton was splitting up, too.
The pace up front saw a chunk of the peloton break clear from the rest, with almost all the major GC players made the cut. Reigning champion Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto) and Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) were among the notable names to miss out.
Still more accelerations and splits would follow, with the breakaway riders reabsorbed along the way. A group of around 40 riders or so led the way into the final 50km of the UAE Tour, with the big climbers – Pogačar included – all accompanied by several teammates.
There would be little hope of regaining contact for those chasing behind, and so, with the race's final climb looming up the road, the stage was set for one final battle.
It was UAE Team Emirates-XRG, boasting the race leader and overwhelming favourite in Pogačar, who led the way up with Vermeersch and Herregodts pulling for the Slovenian. In the end, it was only a question of when he would make his stage- and race-winning move.
He provided no surprises by leaping clear at 7.6km to go, shortly after Herregodts had finished with his day's work. From there, the remainder of the stage was all about one man, the 2025 UAE Tour champion, Tadej Pogačar.
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, they had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur. They write and edit at Cyclingnews as well as running newsletter, social media, and how to watch campaigns.
Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, Road World Championships, and the spring Classics. They have interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Demi Vollering, and Remco Evenepoel, and their favourite races are the Giro d'Italia, Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix.
