UAE Tour 2020 – Stage 5 [FULL STAGE]

February 27, 2020

UAE Tour 2020 – Stage 5 – Al Ain – Jebel Hafeet : 162 km

The second edition of the UAE Tour (February 23-29) kicks-off with a world-class field set to compete over the seven-stage race. Top of the bill is Chris Froome (Team Ineos), with the four-time Tour de France winner returning to racing for the first time since his career-threatening crash at last year’s Critérium du Dauphiné.

Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) moved closer to overall victory at the UAE Tour, controlling his closest rivals on the second Jebel Hafeet mountain finish and so defending his overall race lead.

Yates responded to a series of attacks from Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and then attacked himself to create a select group of riders that formed on the 10.8km climb. Yates and Pogačar got away as they attacked each other but were eventually joined by David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) and Ilnur Zakarin (CCC Team).

The five sprinted into the sweeping final turn, knowing the finish was just 100 metres away. Lutsenko emerged first and thought he had won, foolishly raising an arm in celebration. However, Pogačar came up along the barriers to snatch victory with a bike throw at the line and gave UAE Team Emirates an important win on home turf.

Yates finished third in the same time, with Gaudu finishing four seconds behind and Zakarin fifth at seven seconds. Pogačar pulled back six seconds on Yates thanks to the stage winner’s time bonus but the British rider leads overall by 1:01 with only two flat stages to Al Mirfa and Abu Dhabi left to race.

“It was amazing,” Pogačar said.

“I started quite early but we went really fast into the corner so I lost a bit of speed. Lutsenko passed me on the left and it was full sprint to the finish. I threw the bike on the line to get 5cm and I’m really happy. It’s really amazing with this first big goal of the year and home race of the team. It’s unbelievable.”

Lutsenko was not so happy, collapsing on the ground and covering his face after realising he had lost due to raising an arm in premature celebration.

How it unfolded

The chance of strong crosswinds and so echelons out on the desert roads focused riders’ minds as they lined up for the start in Al Ain. They could also see the rocky landscape of Jebel Hafeet and so knew it was not going to be a quiet day in the peloton.

The break soon formed on the flat roads with James Knox (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Larry Warbasse (AG2R La Mondiale), Tosh van der Sande (Lotto Soudal), Andrea Garosio (Vini Zabù-KTM) and Cristian Scaroni (Gazprom-RusVelo) in the move.

Warbasse was the best placed overall and became virtual race leader at one point as their gap extended to over six minutes. However, Knox had the best chance of winning the stage if he could start the 10km climb to Jebel Hafeet with sufficient advantage on the overall contenders.

The five worked together as UAE Team Emirates, Mitchelton-Scott and Team Ineos worked at the front of the peloton to stay out of trouble and to lead the chase. The long loop north meant the riders faced a headwind early on, a 25km section with crosswinds and then a long blast to the foot of Jabel Hafeet pushed on by a cross-tail wind.

A group of 14 riders were distanced in the crosswind sector but the wind speed was only 30km/h and failed to split the peloton into important echelons.

Later on, the Groupama-FDJ twice tried to form an echelon attack but there was simply not enough wind and the peloton returned together, with the break only three minutes ahead.

Niklas Eg (Trek-Segafredo) risked punishment by sitting in his team car’s slipstream for a long spell but the pace was steady, with even Chris Froome dropping back to collect bidons for his Team Ineos teammates at one point.

The racing turned serious and the sprinters gathered at the back of the peloton as the climb of Jabel Hafeet began. The peloton gradually shook out as UAE Team Emirates set the pace, with Italian national champion doing a long, fast turn as the gradient began to hurt.

Up front Knox surged away in pursuit of the stage victory but Formolo’s hard work left him with a lead of just 45 seconds with five kilometres still to climb. Knox was soon caught and dropped despite a brave and huge effort.

There were only 10 or so riders left up front after Formolo pulled off and after scrutinising Yates’ race face, Pogačar kicked away. Yates responded easily and immediately, as did Lutsenko, Gaudu, Zakarin and a few others.

Pogačar attacked several more times, but each time Yates matched him and even attacked himself to show he was in control. Their jabs allowed the others to get back on as the kilometres ticked down and Pogačar refused to drag Yates to the finish.

The Jebel Hafeet stage is always decided by the sweeping left turn just a hundred metres from the finish line. Lutsenko, Pogačar and Yates sprinted uphill towards the corner, with the Kazakhstani champion winning the first battle and cutting cross Yates. Pogačar took the outside line and was a bike length behind Lutsenko as the line came into view. Lutsenko made the mistake of not closing the door down the barriers, thinking he had done enough to win. However Pogačar refused to give up, sprinted with everything he had and threw his bike at the line.

As Lutsenko raised an arm in premature celebration, Pogačar passed him to hit the line first.

Results :
1 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 3:48:53
2 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
3 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
4 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:04
5 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) CCC Team 0:00:07
6 Davide Formolo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:23
7 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
8 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:24
9 Victor De la Parte (Spa) CCC Team
10 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:27
11 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:37
12 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:00:47
13 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos 0:00:48
14 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:01:04
15 Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain McLaren 0:01:09
16 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) NTT Pro Cycling
17 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
18 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
19 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
20 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
21 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
22 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Astana Pro Team
23 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
24 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep
25 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Israel Start-Up Nation
26 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis 0:01:36
27 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:41
28 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) AG2R la Mondiale 0:01:47
29 Andrea Garosio (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM 0:01:55
30 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:02
31 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
32 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Bahrain McLaren
33 Sergei Chernetskii (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
34 Jaakko Hanninen (Fin) AG2R la Mondiale
35 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb
36 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Movistar Team
37 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
38 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) CCC Team
39 Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Team 0:02:17
40 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:02:21
41 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
42 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis
43 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
44 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:02:40
45 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team 0:03:07
46 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
47 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal 0:03:12
48 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:03:35
49 Iñigo Elosegui Momeñe (Spa) Movistar Team
50 Hernando Bohorquez Sanchez (Col) Astana Pro Team
51 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Cofidis
52 Danilo Wyss (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
53 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain McLaren
54 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:59
55 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Bahrain McLaren 0:04:11
56 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:04:14
57 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
58 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
59 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Ineos 0:05:00
60 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
61 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team
62 Andrey Amador (CRc) Team Ineos
63 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Ineos
64 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Team Ineos
65 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana Pro Team
66 Kamil Gradek (Pol) CCC Team
67 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R la Mondiale
68 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
69 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation
70 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bahrain McLaren
71 Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team
72 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Ineos 0:05:23
73 Umberto Marengo (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM 0:05:46
74 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:06:26
75 Vladislav Kulikov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
76 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
77 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb
78 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
79 Cristian Scaroni (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
80 Leonardo Tortomasi (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM 0:07:01
81 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis
82 Tosh Van der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:07:54
83 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:08:12
84 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma
85 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
86 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
87 Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott
88 James Mitri (NZl) Vini Zabu’ KTM 0:09:12
89 Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb
90 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:09:34
91 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
92 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
93 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
94 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
95 Francisco Jose Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) CCC Team
96 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:09:43
97 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:10:49
98 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:11:01
99 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
100 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis 0:11:04
101 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ 0:11:52
102 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Bahrain McLaren 0:13:52
103 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
104 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
105 Charles Quarterman (GBr) Trek-Segafredo
106 William Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
107 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:14:51
108 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:14:52
109 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:15:31
110 Michael Carbel Svendgaard (Den) NTT Pro Cycling 0:16:11
111 Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:16:54
112 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
113 Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates
114 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team
115 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
116 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott
117 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team Sunweb
118 Attilio Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
119 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
120 Albert Torres Barcelo (Spa) Movistar Team
121 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
122 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
123 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:18:46
124 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
125 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Start-Up Nation
126 Imerio Cima (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
127 Veljko Stojnic (Srb) Vini Zabu’ KTM
128 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) NTT Pro Cycling
129 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
130 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-Quickstep
131 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:19:11
132 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:23:20
133 Kaden Groves (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott

General Classification after Stage 5 :
1 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 20:35:04
2 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:01
3 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:01:33
4 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:48
5 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:11
6 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:02:34
7 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) CCC Team
8 Davide Formolo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:39
9 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:47
10 Victor De la Parte (Spa) CCC Team 0:02:51
11 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos 0:02:58
12 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:15
13 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:19
14 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling 0:03:25
15 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:36
16 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis 0:03:45
17 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:04:01
18 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:04:24
19 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:54
20 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:05:12
21 Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain McLaren 0:05:17
22 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
23 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Astana Pro Team
24 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:05:24
25 Jaakko Hanninen (Fin) AG2R la Mondiale 0:05:45
26 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team 0:06:10
27 Sergei Chernetskii (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
28 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:06:20
29 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:06:40
30 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) CCC Team
31 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:07:03
32 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:07:22
33 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:07:34
34 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:07:37
35 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Bahrain McLaren 0:07:39
36 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:07:45
37 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) AG2R la Mondiale 0:07:51
38 Hernando Bohorquez Sanchez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:08:05
39 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:08:22
40 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Cofidis 0:08:23
41 Andrea Garosio (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM 0:09:25
42 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM 0:10:08
43 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) NTT Pro Cycling 0:10:34
44 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Bahrain McLaren 0:10:43
45 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:10:49
46 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM 0:11:23
47 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:11:33
48 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:11:39
49 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain McLaren 0:12:15
50 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis 0:12:34
51 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal 0:12:47
52 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:13:10
53 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis 0:13:50
54 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R la Mondiale 0:14:18
55 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:14:44
56 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
57 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:15:04
58 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:15:12
59 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:15:15
60 Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott 0:16:08
61 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team 0:17:11
62 Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Team 0:17:16
63 Danilo Wyss (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling 0:17:30
64 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Movistar Team 0:17:58
65 Andrey Amador (CRc) Team Ineos 0:18:05
66 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:18:28
67 Vladislav Kulikov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:18:38
68 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:18:46
69 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Ineos 0:18:53
70 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:19:13
71 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Ineos 0:19:45
72 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Team Ineos 0:19:47
73 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis 0:20:36
74 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:20:38
75 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:20:54
76 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
77 Kamil Gradek (Pol) CCC Team 0:21:17
78 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Ineos 0:21:27
79 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos 0:22:04
80 James Mitri (NZl) Vini Zabu’ KTM 0:22:10
81 Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:22:18
82 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:22:30
83 Iñigo Elosegui Momeñe (Spa) Movistar Team 0:23:08
84 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:23:33
85 Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:23:51
86 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:24:58
87 Umberto Marengo (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM 0:25:20
88 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott 0:25:23
89 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:25:34
90 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:25:50
91 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:26:06
92 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bahrain McLaren 0:26:09
93 Tosh Van der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:27:15
94 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:27:41
95 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:28:00
96 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain McLaren 0:28:05
97 Francisco Jose Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) CCC Team 0:28:06
98 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:28:07
99 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:29:03
100 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:29:44
101 William Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:30:09
102 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:31:29
103 Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis 0:31:46
104 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ 0:32:53
105 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:33:06
106 Leonardo Tortomasi (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM 0:33:19
107 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:34:43
108 Cristian Scaroni (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:36:01
109 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:36:13
110 Michael Carbel Svendgaard (Den) NTT Pro Cycling 0:37:02
111 Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:37:20
112 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:37:23
113 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:37:51
114 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:39:29
115 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 0:39:52
116 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Bahrain McLaren 0:40:04
117 Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Arg) UAE Team Emirates 0:40:17
118 Attilio Viviani (Ita) Cofidis 0:40:43
119 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team 0:42:29
120 Charles Quarterman (GBr) Trek-Segafredo 0:42:32
121 Albert Torres Barcelo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:43:41
122 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) NTT Pro Cycling 0:44:12
123 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:44:25
124 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team Sunweb 0:44:58
125 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:44:59
126 Kaden Groves (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:45:19
127 Veljko Stojnic (Srb) Vini Zabu’ KTM 0:45:43
128 Imerio Cima (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:46:34
129 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:47:38
130 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:48:56
131 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:49:26
132 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:50:28
133 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:50:48